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City awards airport economic and fiscal analysis; kickoff meeting scheduled next week
Summary
City staff told council that Eco Northwest was awarded the airport economic and fiscal analysis and that a two-phase study will evaluate operations and alternative uses; kickoff is scheduled and stakeholder outreach will follow.
City staff updated the Albany City Council on plans to complete an economic and fiscal analysis of the city airport, saying the project will evaluate current operations and examine feasible alternative scenarios for the property.
"The project is not an effort to close the airport," the presenter said, describing the analysis as a structured effort to evaluate ways to keep operations afloat and to assess alternatives for the property. The request for proposals process resulted in an award to Eco Northwest, which will lead a team that includes Tiberius Solutions (public finance) and Precision Approach Engineering (airport planning and engineering).
City staff described the study as a two‑phase effort: a roughly four‑month Phase 1 to evaluate property finances, operations and critical impediments to changing current use; and a Phase 2, about five months, to evaluate future-use scenarios. Staff said contract signatures should be complete this week and a kickoff meeting is scheduled for next week; the memorandum included more detail for council review (pages 9–11 in the packet).
The presenter said stakeholder outreach is a "key component" of the project and that the project team will coordinate interviews and meetings with airport stakeholders, including the airport commission and businesses that operate on airport property. Debbie Orger, chair of the steering committee for the Albany Air Museum (Wings of History), asked whether the museum and other on-site businesses would be interviewed; staff confirmed stakeholders will be included and said the project team will set outreach schedules during the kickoff.
Staff said the study is intended to support the city’s strategic plan objective to explore options for the airport and to provide council with information to help decide how to proceed. No final decisions were announced at the meeting; staff said council would hear back at the end of Phase 1, with timing dependent on study findings.
