Airport Liaison Q & A

Airport Liaison e-mailed me these answers to my questions Monday.


1) When will the Airport Master Plan be released?

The City Manager does a monthly ED Report and this project is one of those reports. We reported to the City Council this past month that the Master Plan is at the printer and we expect the availability to be in a few weeks. The release of this document will be at the direction of the City Manager.


2)The deadline for the extension on the one parcel of land that went out to RFP ends shortly, has the winning bidder decided to purchase the land or not?

The individual is not looking to purchase the land. Airport land on the airfield is not for sale. He would be leasing it from us. I am not a liberty to release any more information at this time.


3) What is the balance left in the Small Community Air Service Grant from the DOT?

Approx $300,000. As you know, we are limited in the use of these funds. We are only able to use them to recruit and retain commercial air service through marketing efforts. These funds cannot be used to subsidize any airline. We were successful in extending the grant last September for one year. We will certainly try to extend it again, although it will be more difficult this year.


4)Since we did not have 10,000 passengers in 2007, have we lost our status as being a "primary airport"?

We are eligible to receive the funds from Allegiant this Year because of the service in 2006. Unless we have 10,000 passengers in a given year, the 1 million in FAA funding is reduced. However, regardless of what we are “guaranteed” we are always eligible, and we consistently apply for, significant funding from the FAA because we are a Part 139 airport- capable to handle commercial traffic because of our services, runway, ILS, etc. We have many projects eligible for Airport Improvement Funds (AIP) planned beginning this year and continuing for the next few years all identified and outlined in the Master Plan and all for major infrastructure work.