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Local resident urges city to reclaim underused airport for port use and proposes splash pad
Summary
Rob Cross asked the council to revisit closing the small, flood-prone municipal airport and to consider leasing the property to the Port for economic uses; he also urged council to check urban renewal documents for a splash-pad project proposal tied to urban renewal funds.
Rob Cross told the council he believes the town’s short, occasionally flooded airport has been unused for more than a year and that the hangars are mainly storage. He said the property could revert to the city and be leased to the Port for economic development uses, such as short-term RV parking or dredge-spoil handling, if the regulatory and operational hurdles can be resolved. “As far as I know right now, there hasn't even been any flights out of there for at least the last year,” Cross said.
Councilors and staff discussed safety constraints—runway length, flooding and wind conditions—and recalled prior conversations with the aeronautics board and the Port about a long-term transfer that required maintaining aircraft access for a 20-year period. Several councilors suggested the city coordinate with the Port and county staff to evaluate topography and floodplain conditions and to consider whether a partial lot-line adjustment or targeted fill could create developable space. Cross also asked the council to review urban-renewal project lists for a splash-pad concept as an eligible use of those funds; staff said they will hold a dedicated URA work session later in the month to review progress and priorities.
