Trans North Helicopters has to move from Range Road because of the new city development next door – and the company is not happy about it, says its general manager.

James Rose said Tuesday Trans North will be approaching city council in the next three months or so to ask the city to pay for its moving expenses, which he estimates will be $100,000, or more.

Since he only took over as general manager a year ago, Rose told the Star, he wasn’t around when the city conducted consultations on its new $52- million operations building off Range Road.

But he’s been assured by those who were that the addition of a new two-storey wash bay to the south of the main building was not part of the original discussion.

Rather, it was an add-on by the city, with no consultation, at least not with Trans North next door.

Rose said he’s spoken with councillors Dan Boyd and Laura Cabott. Both are of the understanding the wash bay was not included in the original project proposal nor the consultation regarding the project.

It’s the wash bay, not the main building, that has been red-flagged by Transport Canada as a concern, he said.

Rose said the new ring road around the new Toyota dealership the city is planning on to provide a second access to the operations building was also presenting a challenge, though they felt they could work around it with flight management.

Just as you can’t fly over buildings unless you’re at 1,000 feet above, you can’t fly over vehicles unless you’re 1,000 feet above, he explained.

He said they still don’t have the road design from the city setting out lamp post locations and such, despite requesting it.

But by managing flight departures and such to wait until there was no traffic, they felt Transport Canada would accept they could continue to operate from the location, he said.

During discussions with Transport Canada about the road, which included a map of the buildings around the general location, Rose said, the federal regulator noted its concern about the wash bay building, confirming Trans North’s concern.

The wash bay, he said, has reduced the take-off and landing options to the point where their location is no longer viable as a heliport.

Rose said the operations building also presented challenges, but it left a large enough window for helicopters to operate in during different prevailing wind directions.

The wash bay has made the window just too small, he said.

“We are going to have to sell and move everything,” Rose said. “We can’t fly out of here anymore.”

He said Trans North is hoping to continue using the location for hangar space until next spring.

Their smaller helicopters, when fully empty with just a pilot onboard, have the ability to climb straight up and come straight down, thereby increasing the take-off and landing options, but only when they’re empty, he explained.

Rose said Trans North has secured a hangar next to the airport tarmac.

It’s a fraction the size of theirs, though, and will not even come close to fitting five helicopters inside like they can now, he said.

It will be a stretch, the general manager suggested, to even get all the tool boxes inside, but it’s the only location available to keep Trans North in a competitive space.

Moving too far from the airport means losing a competitive edge, he said, noting the company is planning to begin flying out of its new location sometime around October.

Rose said staff will have to move fuel tanks, which will require an environmental assessment. They’ll also have to move an electric hoist that requires a specialized team, along with other equipment and the office.

It’s not going to take long to tally up moving expenses, he said.

Their current location off Range Road, where they’ve been for the past 20 years, is the best location in town, Rose said, but now they’re having to move into a space that is much less than ideal for their needs.

Boyd asked administration Monday night if the city had received an update from Transport Canada regarding Trans North’s ability to continue flying from its Range Road headquarters. He was told there was no update.

In a brief administrative report to council on Monday titled Impacts of Operations Building Construction, council was informed:

“In response to a query from a council member, administration advised that no response has been received from either Transport Canada or Nav Canada on whether or not Trans North will be able to continue to operate from their existing site.

“The city acknowledges that building construction does result in a number of irritations and inconveniences for adjacent properties, but there is little that can be done to mitigate these issues during the construction process.”