City airport action not imminent

Even though opponents — and supporters, for the first time in force — were just as vocal as ever, fears of overbearing growth at Kalispell City Airport got a breather Tuesday night.

Kalispell Planning Board members tabled a discussion on whether to extend airport boundaries until after a Nov. 30 town hall meeting.

That meeting starts at 7 p.m. that Monday in the Hilton Garden Inn, led by a facilitator not connected with city government. City Council members will be on hand to open and close the session designed to air questions, answers and information from all sides.

The Planning Board’s vote Tuesday to table the issue followed City Manager Jane Howington’s recommendation.

“Tonight is not an urgent time frame,” Howington said before the start of a public hearing on the proposed South Kalispell/Airport Redevelopment Plan.

She outlined a longer and slower process than many anticipated.

The town hall meeting will give historical context to the issue, explore what is happening at the airport now, detail what is being proposed, look into economic development and take public comment. Participants will discuss whether to undertake a new scoping process to get current public opinion.

A second session will bring back answers to issues that arise on Nov. 30 and get more public comments. More sessions could follow, Howington said.

“There will be quite a lengthy process before council action,” she said.

Howington also mentioned plans to hire a consultant for a new environmental assessment. That study could answer such questions as whether to make it a B-1 or B-2 airport, if the airstrip should be angled away from its current orientation, whether it should be longer.

“I would urge the planning board to take a longer view of the redevelopment area and a longer view on the airport,” she said. Redevelopment area changes don’t directly impact the airport, she said, but “with the environment we’re in now” it’s best to be aware of the connections.

A grassroots opposition group of south Kalispell residents concerned about the safety and noise they say threatens their quality of life has appeared at nearly every City Council meeting in the past few months.

Spearheaded by Steve Eckels and Scott Davis, the Quiet Skies Committee had several members speak again at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting. Several thanked the city for its willingness to slow down the process, but many remained incensed.

Karlene Khor spoke of a “loss of faith. People don’t think you are listening,” she told the Planning Board. “The message is, ‘We care about north Kalispell or if you’re a franchise, but not if you just live here.’

Randy Schumacher, who said he holds a business degree and specializes in marketing, told the board “we do not need to expand the airport. It’s functional now … and we have Glacier Park International.”

Tim Wise reminded the board that his father, Doug Wise, donated the gravel when the airport was built and has contributed immeasurably to the community through his 67 years owning Sykes’ restaurant and grocery.

“Our family owns by far the largest piece of land there … but nobody showed the courtesy of even asking whether we would want to sell,” Wise said. He claimed neighboring land purchases were intended to squeeze out the Wise holdings. “I don’t think they should be arrogant enough to assume. They lack basic common courtesy and that’s not the kind of people I want to do business with.”

Tim Wise’s sister, now living in Spokane, noted that “Dad was born 92 years ago on that hill on that ranch [by the airport] and he was here first. He will fight to his dying breath against giving or selling his land” for an airport expansion.

But, in the hearing that continued for some two hours, many stepped to the podium in support of the airport.

Dave Hoerner, a fixed-base operator at the airport, said he has seen many struggles there over his 20 years in the aviation field. He has instituted policies that send student pilots to Glacier Park International Airport four or five days a week and ban touch-and-run flights over the city.

He advocated accepting Federal Aviation Administration money for an expansion, money that comes from airline passenger fees and not taxes, he said.

“About 30 people work at the airport, and none of us is getting rich,” he said to dispel accusations that this expansion is only for those with money.

“Your children may want to learn to fly. Where will they otherwise?” Horner said. “We do our best, we try to stay out of town. So move [the airstrip] to the south and keep it safe and improve it for the whole city.”

Scott Richardson, chairman of the Kalispell City Airport Advisory Council, voiced his concern that “folks are creating much ado about nothing.” Lengthening the airstrip even to the proposed 4,700 feet still makes it too short for large jets, which he said he adamantly opposes.

Safety updates are needed there, both for pilots and residents, and the FAA money could accomplish them partially through the airstrip reconfiguration.

“In this talk about the highest and best use, the airport is a darn good use of land,” with the $2.4 million of private investment there to date, he said. “This is not a spontaneous decision to reconfigure, it’s long been in discussion … Please keep your mind open about the airport. The airport is the last avenue you have for reasonable general aviation,” which is ill-suited to the larger facility at Glacier Park International.

Jim Pierce, who employs 15 people at Red Eagle Aviation, outlined steps he has taken to mitigate noise, change takeoff patterns, designate no-fly zones and limit training flight days.

“You hear a lot of ‘I think,’ and ‘I know.’ But you decision-makers need the facts,” Pierce said. “I encourage you and the council to come and take a look at what is happening at the airport.”

Peter Gross is a pilot with a business along Airport Road and another at the airport. He identified himself as “mostly pro-airport.”

“But I’m confused,” he told the board. “This meeting is about economic development, right? It has more to do with what happens off the airport,” dealing with blight, vacant properties, businesses along U.S. 93 South that don’t maintain a good appearance.

Tax increment money captured from the South Kalispell/Airport Redevelopment plan area could pay to improve the situation.

“Isn’t that what we’re trying to do?” Gross asked. “Let’s make a great first impression on people coming to Kalispell from the south.”

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