Perry council approves five-year airport improvement plan to enable hangar development

Perry City Council voted unanimously to approve a five-year airport capital improvement program for fiscal year 2027, directing staff to forward the plan to the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration for their files.

City Administrator Sven told the council the plan, prepared in consultation with Bolton Mink and the airport commission, shifts focus from runway work to landside infrastructure that would make room for new hangars and improve operational flow. "This plan uses up a lot of the remaining IGA funds," Sven said, and staff intends to apply for an Iowa DOT grant in May to support design and construction work.

Garrett Jacobs, a presenter for the airport discussion, summarized the landside approach: "This doesn't provide hangars. It provides pavement for people to build hangars. We've got letters of intent from pilots that want to build, and the ground lease templates are set up to allow them to do that." The plan outlines pavement and taxi-lane work on a roughly seven-acre parcel and anticipates options to group hangar footprints in different configurations.

Council members also discussed moving or replacing the airport fuel depot to free apron space and reduce congestion. Staff said DOT funds would participate for that relocation project but FAA funds likely would not. Jacob (presenter) said separating jet fuel fueling from general-aviation fuel and relocating the farm would ease ramp congestion and aircraft movement.

The resolution approving the program passed on a roll-call vote; council did not record a named mover or seconder in the transcript. The council also directed continued coordination with DOT and FAA and noted funding remains contingent on successful grant applications.

Provenance: discussion and vote appear in the council packet and transcript discussion starting at SEG 459 through SEG 643.