BRESLAU — The Region of Waterloo is buying a farm near the airport for $4.1 million to provide space for a new terminal.

The substantial land acquisition goes against the 20-year master plan for the Region of Waterloo International Airport approved in April that calls for new investment and infrastructure expansion only as passenger numbers rise.

While Coun. Sean Strickland said the plan does allow for strategic land purchases, he objected to the purchase of this property.

"We don't need the land now. We may never need the land," Strickland said in an interview. "We're a long way from the passenger volume we would need to build a new terminal."

Strickland was the only councillor to object to the purchase at Wednesday's council meeting.

"We're in the process of bringing our debt load down on the airport," he said.

The land purchase will be funded by debentures. It was in the airport capital plan for 2020, and now it will be moved up to 2018.

The region will advance more than $4.4 million, which includes allowances for sale transaction costs (legal and closing fees) and for the possibility environmental issues are found on the property.

Planning and works committee chair Coun. Tom Galloway acknowledged that the new airport master plan includes passenger thresholds for capital investment, but it also stipulates the region can consider buying land that becomes available — and that's what happened in this case.

"We didn't go seek this property out. It has been for sale for some time," Galloway said.

The region was approached by the broker and "council thought it was an excellent deal," he said. "We got it at a favourable price."

Even if the airport doesn't expand, the land still has value. Also, Galloway said this deal sets a value for other lands in the area that the region may be interested in buying for airport expansion. Often the cost goes up if the region is forced to expropriate land when it's needed, he said.

The property is a 144-acre farm on Fountain Street North in the Township of Woolwich. The fields are currently being rented to a farmer, and the region will continue that. There's also a nice home on the property that can be rented.

"We'll be getting some income," Galloway said.

Strickland said land purchases should only be made when the airport needs to expand. He's concerned the region went through the long exercise to create a business plan for the airport's future with triggers built in for expansion, and then "we're basically ignoring a key component."

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Another big goal is to reduce taxpayer support of the Breslau airport.

With this land acquisition, along with a couple of smaller buys, "we are actually increasing our debt again," Strickland said.