minnesota - Midwest Flyer

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL REPORT
by Bill Blake
AOPA Great Lakes Regional Representative
Airport Officials Should
Not Move, Close or
Consolidate Airports
Without Seeking Input
Whenever
local
officials
try to close or
move airports
without consulting
aviation officials
or airport users,
the results are
troubling. It’s particularly
complicat-
Bill Blake
ed in Fishers, Indiana, where the
town wants to close the 500-acre
Indianapolis Downtown Airport
(UMP). It’s actually owned and operated
by the Indianapolis Airport
Authority, but the town would rather
see tax revenues stemming from
home construction and other tax generating
uses. The authority said it
would consider moving the airport if
Fishers found a site at its expense.
After the first one was rejected,
Fishers teamed up with the town of
Anderson (AID) in an odd two-forone
deal: Both towns would close
their airports and build one new airport.
But the new proposed airport
wouldn't support the total aircraft
population, and residents in nearby
Lapel aren’t exactly excited about it.
AOPA has made it clear to the consultant
working on the study that the
current proposal is unacceptable. All
the affected parties, especially the
pilots and the FAA, should be given
the opportunity to participate in a
public process on the potential consolidation.
__________
Hamilton County, Indiana, has
been negotiating to purchase the privately-owned,
public-use Sheridan,
Indiana Airport (5I4). Hamilton
County is the county that purchased
Indianapolis Executive Airport
(TYQ) a few years ago, which is
located in Boone County. Another
privately-owned, public-use airport,
Clinton, Indiana (1I7), has recently
offered to give the airport to
Vermillion County, Ind. I attended a
public meeting held at the county
seat to support such a transfer, and it
appears there is community support
for it. One of the big advantages for
changing these privately-owned airports
to publicly-owned airports is
that, in many cases, such transfers
make the airports eligible for federal
and state airport improvement grants.
__________
Six airports in Illinois recently
received Security Awareness
Partnership awards from the
Transportation Security
Administration for reporting suspicious
activity under the AOPA
Airport Watch program. Fortunately,
further investigation found none of
the reports resulted in actual threats.
However, the reports demonstrate
that we are all working together to
identify possible problems.
Following the voluntary steps in
Airport Watch could help prevent
future federally mandated restrictions.
___________
After much delay, the State of
Illinois finally issued the certificate
of operations allowing the opening
of the privately-owned, public-use
airport, Bult Field (C56), near
Monee, Illinois. You may remember
that this is the site of the state proposed
third commercial service airport
for Chicago. However, the
opening of such an airport is years
down the road, if ever. In the meantime,
(as AOPA pointed out in urging
the state to approve its opening),
Bult Field will be serving a public
need without the expenditure of any
public money.
_____________
Because of the efforts of local
pilots and AOPA, the Chicago
Executive Airport (PWK) Board
reversed its decision and will now
keep Runway 6/24 open. Prevailing
winds make this runway important to
smaller general aviation aircraft,
especially during summer months.
For more information on these
and other issues facing aviation,
please go to the AOPA website at:
www.aopa.org.
❑
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
Minnesota Legislature Appoints
Airport Funding Task Force
ST. PAUL, MINN. – On September
11, the Minnesota Senate
Subcommittee On Committees
appointed the following senators to
the “Minnesota Airport Funding Task
42 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2007
Force”: Mike Jungbauer, Dan Larson,
and Ann Rest.
The Minnesota House of
Representatives previously selected
their members: Mike Beard, David
Dil, and Ann Lenczewski.
Next, the Director of the
Legislative Coordinating
Commission (LCC) will convene the
first meeting of the Working Group,
at which time the group will elect its
co-chairs, a senator and a representative.
The Minnesota Airport Funding
Task Force is studying future funding
needs and sources for the state’s airports.
Being considered is an increase
in the state aviation fuel tax to offset
a proposed reduction in state aircraft
registration fees.
❑