City should clear airport project for takeoff

The Kalispell City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a proposal to sell bonds to fund additional expansion and improvements at the city airport.

Some residents have tried to turn this decision into a referendum on whether or not there should even be a city airport at the current location. While we sympathize with them regarding safety issues, it should be pointed out that the airport is one of the most-studied of all public facilities in Northwest Montana, and time after time, the City Council has concluded that the airport is a benefit to the city that should not just be maintained, but improved.

Based on that longstanding policy, private businesses and individuals have committed thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars into investments and improvements at the airport. Most recently, a local business has committed itself to become the first anchor at a new industrial park that will take advantage of the airport's shipping capacity.

It would not be appropriate for the City Council to reverse its oft-reaffirmed policy, and leave those partners out in the cold, without some major new factor changing the dynamics. In addition to being unfair, it would probably be costly. Lawsuits would likely ensue, tying the airport property up for years in litigation.

Besides which, what exactly are the alternatives?

If the city sells the airport property, what exactly will it be getting? Probably a few million dollars, at least. Certainly, the property is worth quite a bit, even though part of it is located near the sewage treatment plant. But would the city really be wise to divest itself of a prime piece of real estate now - in the midst of extensive growth and change? Perhaps someday that property - that open space - will be even more valuable to the community in a yet-to-be-thought-of capacity.

Some have argued that a performing arts center could be built there, or some other kind of quasi-public facility - even additional shopping. But what guarantees would come with those projects? None, surely. They would be speculative, at best, whereas the city airport has provided a service for more than 75 years.

It is true that relatively few pilots benefit from the city airport's current services, but under the guidance of the recently hired airport manager, Fred Leistiko, there has been a movement toward maximizing the use of the facility. No one wants to see the airport become another Glacier Park International, but it clearly has a role to play. And many of the private pilots who enjoy flying here also spend money at local restaurants, stores and hotels.

Some people are never going to be happy as long as the airport remains near residences. We understand that, but the airport has not resulted in a particularly large number of accidents, and so far as we know, no passer-by or homeowner has been killed by a plane crash. Besides, almost all of the homes that are in the immediate vicinity of the airport were built there after the airport opened in 1929, and thus prospective homeowners should have been fully aware they were going to be neighbors of an airport.

That doesn't mean the city doesn't have a responsibility to make the airport as safe as possible. But that is already under way. The Federal Aviation Administration has signed off on the expansion and said it will result in a safer facility, especially once the radio towers have been removed from near the runway.

Perhaps the city could have sought more advice from voters about what to do with the airport through the years. But the time to do that may have already passed. The city has made a promise to develop the airport, and it would be hard to justify going back on that promise.

Finally, it is ridiculous to propose, as some have done, that Kalispell close down its perfectly functional airport and pay for a new airport several miles away that would not even be in the city limits. Why would city taxpayer dollars be used to build a new county airport? If the airport is going to close down, it should be because the city has a better use in mind for either the property itself or for the proceeds of a sale.

Some respected individuals and organizations in the community, including the Flathead Business and Industry Association, have encouraged the City Council not to spend any more money on the airport. We hope their concerns are addressed, but ultimately it is hard to see how the council can walk away from the commitments it has already made, and that means the airport expansion is probably going to happen, like it or not.