Airport changes ownership
by Blake Wolfe/The Scugog Standard

A change in ownership at the Greenbank Airport has caught the attention of a number of local residents due to a connection with the ongoing commercial fill debacle within Scugog.
The airport quietly exchanged hands late last year, with little indication of new ownership other than a new contact name - Gord Churchill - listed as airport manager and owner on the facility’s web site last week.
_A Mr. Gord Churchill is also listed as one of the owners of Earthworx Industries, the company involved in the recent commercial fill battle with the Township of Scugog and local residents, regarding the dumping of soil from former Toronto industrial sites on a Lakeridge Rd. property situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine. The dumping continued despite the township’s revocation of the company’s permit to place fill on the property, with Earthworx claiming that the land was being developed as an airport and thus subject only to federal laws.
_That defence was struck down last May in a provincial courtroom, following numerous court dates, municipal charges, changes to the township’s site alteration bylaw and heated community discussions about the company’s activity and its potential impact on the local environment and water systems. The Lakeridge Rd. property has remained dormant since a March 2011 provincial injunction halted work at the site.
_An appeal by Earthworx of the May 2011 court decision was abandoned last summer, as were several Scugog bylaw charges against the company this past November.
_Neither Mr. Churchill nor Earthworx legal representatives could be reached for comment by press time. Messages sent to an e-mail address, listed on the airport’s web site as belonging to Dorothy Jovkovic (wife of former airport owner Micky Jovkovic), were returned as undeliverable.
_In August 2008, Mr. Jovkovic and another man were killed in a tragic accident, after their plane crashed in a farmer’s field near the airport minutes after takeoff. The airport went on the market for approximately $2 million shortly after the accident. It’s unknown how much the property sold for in December.
_In 2009, a new manager, Larry Bonehill, was brought in by Ms. Jovkovic to run the facility. _While he could not provide any details about the sale or current plans for the facility beyond confirming that the airport’s ownership had changed hands on Dec. 13, 2011, Mr. Bonehill previously stated in a 2009 interview with The Standard that a number of plans were in place regarding the future growth of the airport, contingent on public interest from both local residents and the aviation community.
_While no such work has yet begun, it’s caught the attention of community group Lakeridge Citizens for Clean Water, said LCCW spokesperson Ian McLaurin.
According to Scugog’s director of public works Ian Roger, minor work has recently been observed taking place on the airport grounds, but nothing that has required a permit from the township.
_Scugog Mayor Chuck Mercier added that although concerns about the airport have been brought to the attention of the township by some local residents, council and municipal officials are watching developments at the airport unfold before raising any red flags.
_“We have heard concerns from some citizens about the new owners’ intent for the property,” said the mayor, adding that the purchase of an airport would be a logical step for a company that purported to be involved in the construction of an aeronautics facility. “However, there’s been no correspondence nor an application for bringing in any fill to the site. We’ll continue to deal with them like any other property owner in the township until we hear otherwise.”