Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Airport Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pella resident urges comprehensive airport ALP that keeps crosswind runway in plan to preserve FAA funding eligibility
Summary
Jim Mueller, a Marion County supervisor and airport committee member, urged the council to include runway expansion and a crosswind runway in the Airport Layout Plan (ALP) and to complete steps to terminate the regional 280 agreement so FAA funding can be available to Pella.
During public comment, Jim Mueller, who identified himself as a member of the Marion County Board of Supervisors and the Pella Municipal Airport Committee, urged the council to require a thorough Airport Layout Plan (ALP) that preserves potential future improvements including a crosswind runway and a widened primary runway.
Mueller told the council an ALP is the FAA-approved blueprint that documents current and future airport development and that omitting improvements from an ALP can make those projects ineligible for FAA funding later. "There is no, and I repeat, no FAA requirement that you must own the land to include that type of a design in an ALP," he said, and added that including future improvements preserves eligibility for FAA grant matches that can be as high as 90%.
He told council that an airport committee had discussed many recommended improvements and that the committee would be ready to make formal recommendations. Council members and staff discussed committee meeting schedules and asked for a timeline; Mueller said the committee was meeting again on the 29th and would work toward a recommendation before a June 2 council meeting if possible.
What's next: Council members asked staff to coordinate with the airport committee to provide a recommendation on the ALP before any scheduled June hearing; staff noted further committee and work-session discussion would be scheduled.
