Village hears airport master-plan presentation; consultants outline 20-year development concepts and funding limits

Consultants from Kaufman Associates and Strand presented a draft master plan for East Troy Municipal Airport (FAA ID 57C) on Monday, outlining a 20-year vision that includes modest forecast growth, hangar development opportunities, and staged capital projects tied to federal funding eligibility.

The presentation described an estimated 41,000 annual aircraft operations, growth from about 78 based aircraft today to roughly 95 over 20 years, and a critical-aircraft profile likely to remain in the small-aircraft category but with potential transition to larger turboprops or light jets. The consultants recommended staged development—near-term hangar infill, mid-term taxiway and apron adjustments, and a possible 600-foot extension of the east–west runway to support a higher pavement standard—while emphasizing that federal and state funding is not guaranteed.

Mike (Kaufman Associates) said the master plan follows FAA advisory guidance and includes an aviation-demand forecast, a facilities plan and a capital program that ties projects to likely funding sources. He told the board the ALP (airport layout plan) drawing is the technical document that will follow the master plan and is required to pursue FAA/BOA funding. "The forecast sets forth the recommendations that we put forth later," he said, describing the forecast as one of two federally reviewed steps in the process.

Andy Trimble of the Bureau of Aeronautics in Madison attended and answered questions about grant mechanics. Jason (staff member) reminded trustees that most airport capital projects are roughly 90 percent federally funded, 5 percent state-funded and 5 percent local share, and that nonprimary-entitlement funding for an airport this size is about $150,000 per year (which can be banked over several years).

Board members asked detailed questions about runway length and demand measurement. Consultants said the normative future runway length envisioned in the plan is about 4,500 feet, with a demonstrated and more-likely short-term extension of 600 feet in the concept drawings; they also explained options for better counting operations without a control tower, such as ADS-B-based monitoring and paid FlightAware-style services linked to geodetic receivers.

Trustees signaled interest in advisory-committee review before adopting a resolution. Doug (trustee) asked that the advisory committee and airport users have an opportunity to review the draft; Jason said staff would bring a resolution back after committee review. Consultants emphasized the importance of matching demand evidence—letters of intent from developers or data from monitoring systems—to justify projects to FAA and BOA for grant funding.

No formal adoption occurred; the village will consider bringing a resolution to adopt the draft plan after the airport advisory committee and stakeholders review the document.