City Council declares radio towers a hazard

By NANCY KIMBALL/Daily Inter Lake

The KGEZ radio towers are a hazard to air navigation at Kalispell City Airport and need to be relocated or removed, the City Council formally decided Monday night.

To make that happen, the city will have experts determine the value of the work and make an offer to radio station owner John Stokes. If he refuses the offer, the council directed city officials to consider condemning the towers so it can take ownership and move them.

If all else fails, the council is prepared for a legal battle with Stokes.

Several citizens told the council before its discussion that they supported the resolution. Locals as well as tourists want the towers removed, they said; future airport expansion will require it, according to Federal Aviation Administration clearance regulations.

The biggest leaseholder who built hangars at the airport, a commercial pilot, said, "I think it's time to move forward on removing the hazard at the end of the runway."

Not everybody liked the idea, though. Airport neighbor Scott Amos said he doesn't oppose tower removal or possible airport expansion, but protested the potential for low-flying jets.

"I've been told that if this is improved to a B2 airport, we'll have low-flying jets over our schools, our gardens, our back yards," Amos said.

City Airport Manager Fred Leistiko later explained that the B2 designation would allow microjets, but said they actually are more efficient and much quieter than the propeller-driven planes and turboprops that operate there now.

Kalispell has considered a site near Lakeside as a new location for the 325-foot-tall towers.

Last month, Stokes said he does not want the towers moved.

"I'll choose my site to relocate my towers, not them," Stokes said. "I'm quite happy where I'm at."

In his report, Leistiko pointed out that moving the towers has been a concern for several years.

"It's past due the time to do this," Leistiko said. "The safety problem lies directly on the shoulders of the city of Kalispell" and not on the Federal Aviation Administration.

Only towers that intrude into the navigational air space are the concern, he said, not the real estate, buildings, business or license connected with the land or KGEZ Radio.

Council member Hank Olson wanted to amend the resolution to avoid paying Stokes for relocation or removal, then have to go back to court if he did not do the actual work.

The council eventually agreed, on an 8-1 vote, to add a provision that the council would become the owner of the towers if Stokes were to accept payment, and it would have the right to remove them.

"If [Stokes] is uncooperative to the end, is there any end to the FAA's [patience]?" council member Randy Kenyon asked.

"For five years now, they [the FAA] have constantly reminded me they want to see this done, but they can't do anything," Leistiko answered. It's the city's sole responsibility to take action. "The FAA just tells me, 'You need to get it done.'"

When Kenyon pressed for a timeline, City Attorney Charles Harball said it could be 30 to 45 days for a value to be set before they sit down and talk with Stokes. If he files suit, it could take six to nine months to be scheduled before a judge, another one to three months for a decision, and potentially another six to nine months for an appeal.

In Leistiko's staff report on the issue, he said no general fund money will be used to move the towers. Instead, airport enterprise funds, airport tax increment funds, state aeronautics grants and FAA Airport Improvement Program Funds are targeted.

Council member Bob Hafferman, reminding the council that initial projections were that moving the towers would cost $1 million, was the sole vote against the amendment. He said it was because the resolution would not pass muster with the FAA because it didn't follow regulations for land acquisition.

He also said it was unreasonable to consider condemnation and called for a reasonable appraisal that the FAA can approve.

Council member Tim Kluesner said he, too, is no fan of condemnation. But his prime objection to the resolution was that "we're taking three steps in one fell swoop" - voting to get an appraisal to set the value, make a formal offer, and consider condemnation.

"The expansion is yet to be justified to taxpayers," Kluesner said. "No economic review has ever been done. This is to be done at the expense of many and will serve very few."

He also objected to the airport tax increment district that, he said, is siphoning potential property tax revenue away from schools and other city needs.

Council member Duane Larson said the only appraisal needed is a broadcast engineer's opinion of the cost for relocating the towers and a statement that it will not degrade the signal.

Earlier, during public comment, lifelong broadcaster Dan Snyder told the council that KGEZ's signal strength would be better with a new underground transmission system.

Larson defended the airport's contribution to the city.

"I think we've done good things so far, and it's finally making us some money," he said.

"What we're doing is simple," Interim City Manager Myrt Webb told the council. "You're establishing a public need, and you're telling me, 'Go see what you can do.' Condemnation is a long way down the pike."

Harball reminded the council that the city does not need any land, only the right to have the towers removed or relocated.

But Hafferman insisted that the city needs an appraisal of the business impact.

"Where we're heading is more and more and more years," Hafferman said. "We've got to get back on course with something the FAA will approve."

The resolution passed 7-2, with Hafferman and Kluesner dissenting.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com