Committee approves land lease and 120-by-120-foot private hangar at Wausau municipal airport

The Wausau Finance Committee on May 27 approved a land lease and private hangar construction at the municipal airport, with the committee accepting an amendment to specify a 120-by-120-foot building footprint.

John Schmiel, an airport representative, told the committee the agenda originally listed a smaller dimension but staff confirmed the larger size was needed to fit the prospective aircraft. “I have 1 adjustment on that, and I would adjust the dimension size to 1 20 by 1 20. There was some controversy about whether the future aircraft of the hangar builder was gonna be able to fit in that hangar. And, we solved that issue, and we've confirmed that the dimension is 120 by 120,” Schmiel said.

Schmiel said the prospective tenant has been flying with the airport over the past two years and now wants to build its own hangar because existing hangar space is insufficient. “We have a customer that we've been flying all across The United States here for the last 2 years, and he's decided that he wants to get his own aircraft. And because we don't have enough hangar space at the airport to be able to take care of that airplane, he wants to build his own,” Schmiel said. He added that the lease terms would be consistent with prior airport leases and the hangar would match the color and style of existing buildings.

Alder Gisselman moved to approve the lease with the amended 120-by-120-foot dimension and Alder Tierney seconded; the motion passed on a voice vote. The committee record does not show additional conditions or special exceptions beyond the size amendment and the standard lease form.