Kalispell council approves bonds for airport project

Kalispell is on its way to a bigger and better airport.

On Monday night, the Kalispell City Council approved the sale of $2 million in tax increment urban renewal revenue bonds to improve and expand the Kalispell City Airport.

The council voted 8-1 to approve the bond sales that will fund phase one of the three stage project. The initial phase calls for building a new ramp and taxiway, constructing a new access road and adding security fencing.

The project likely will be done by August, airport manager Fred Leistiko said.

"We're ready to go on this," he said.

The next two phases of the project would be completed simultaneously within six months of beginning construction. But breaking ground could take years due to land acquisition requirements, Leistiko said.

Monday night's session on the issue was relatively quick and quiet compared to past public hearings and meetings where members of the public and from the aviation community sparred over the topic.

The council Monday spoke only briefly on the matter, which they have discussed at length in the past several weeks.

No one from the public spoke in opposition. One local pilot voiced his support.

Councilman Bob Hafferman was the lone no vote. He objected to selling bonds for the project because past councils have pledged just $1 million for improving and expanding the airport. Hafferman fears agreeing to spend more means the city might keep increasing the amount it puts into the airport.

"We're using tax increment fund money and we are opening a door that I think isn't going to be closed," he said.

Councilman Duane Larson said he didn't have a problem with selling $2 million in bonds because the city anticipates the Federal Aviation Administration will reimburse Kalispell for much of its costs.

"I have full confidence we won't exceed the $1 million and that this is a jump start," he said.

The city anticipates the FAA will reimburse Kalispell for 95 percent of most of the costs incurred for the project, Leistiko said. The city's plan satisfies the FAA's guidelines and criteria for funding airport improvement plans and the administration has put Kalispell on a list of approved projects, he said.

The total project cost is estimated at $7.4 million.

The reimbursements, though, are contingent upon moving the KGEZ radio towers, which the FAA says must come down as a safety precaution.

The towers would be relocated as part of phase two, which would replace the existing runway. Phase three would add more parking spaces and businesses, such as a refueling center, to the airport.

Each stage involves numerous smaller projects and requires land acquisition for needed space.

The city and the radio station have not reached an agreement on relocating the towers. Kalispell will focus on the initial phase before attempting to purchase the towers, City Manager Jim Patrick and Leistiko said.

Leistiko and Patrick presented the bond sales to the council as a way to fund phase one before FAA money starts coming back to the city. Even if the towers never came down and the project stalls after phase one, Kalispell has enough money to repay the bonds, Patrick said.

The council Monday night specified that the bonds be issued for a 15-year period.

State law, though, allows cities to retire bonds after seven years if they are able. The council stated its intention to call the bonds at seven years, provided it has enough money from the FAA or from the tax increment fund to do so.

The decision is the culmination of years of discussion, debates, studies and planning for improving and expanding the Kalispell City Airport.

Members of the public and various local organizations recently have spoken out against the project.

Some people objected to the location of the airport and would rather see it moved than expanded. Others said the city should have asked the public how it wanted to use the land. Some people objected to the bonds specifically and suggested the aviation community should put up the money.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com