The possibility of selling the lights at the Rimbey Airport to Lacombe Flying Club was discussed by council at its Wednesday night meeting, though no final decision was made.
Mayor Rick Pankiw said he had received a request from the president of the Lacombe Flying Club, Ellery Derksen to obtain the lighting system in exchange for an approximately $1,000 donation for the proposed skateboard park.
Pankiw said the request came in Wednesday afternoon and there wasn’t time to investigate it further before council.
He added the lights were installed in the early ‘80s and some work was done on the system in 2006. However, he said public works foreman Rick Schmidt said it is not feasible to repair the non-functioning lights.
“As far as I’m concerned, we should go for it,” said Coun. Mathew Jaycox, referring to the possible exchange of the lights for a donation.
CAO Lucien Cloutier said he believes the Lacombe Flying Club has the same lighting system.
“It’s not feasible for us to fix them, but it is my understanding that the Lacombe Flying Club may be able to make use of them because they have the same or a similar system.”
Cloutier plans to check the matter out.
“I plan to look into it administratively. We need to go about this the right way. They (the lights), may not even fall under the category of an asset.”
Cloutier thinks the tradeoff could be positive for Rimbey.
“We are not making use of the lights and don’t intent to make use of them. If it results in the community getting this grant, (for a skateboard park) and it is a contribution to a local project, it’s really a win/win.”