Quiet Skies group vents airport concerns

A host of considerations factor into building a new airport, Eureka’s airport manager said at a public meeting organized by the Quiet Skies Committee Thursday night.

But one rises to the top.

“You need to have open public forums,” Craig Eaton told about 30 people gathered at the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell. “The council needs to be here, they need to know what’s going on.”

Kalispell City Council member Bob Hafferman was present throughout the meeting and Mayor Tammi Fisher stopped by to hear what Eaton, Kalispell real-estate broker Dave Heine and Quiet Skies organizers had to say.

The meeting was an information-gathering session where organizers hoped to fine-tune questions and concerns before the council holds its second scoping meeting about safety upgrades and other work being considered for the city airport. That meeting is set for Jan. 25.

For the most part a calm, cordial atmosphere reigned throughout the meeting.

Organizer Steve Eckels suggested relocating the airport closer to Bigfork and Somers, “where the users are,” he said, and sharing the cost between the city and the county. Another suggested that could leave the current airport to be turned into a revenue-generating municipal golf course for Kalispell.

One woman noted Missoula’s airport accommodates multiple uses, including the smoke-jumper facility, without problems, so Kalispell should be able to use its airport for training and general aviation.

Organizer Scott Davis said he was told the airport generates $3 million in annual revenue, then questioned where the money really is. Eckels questioned what property values would do if the airport were to expand into a residential neighborhood and people left in droves.

When one man questioned Quiet Skies’ insistence on knowing the home addresses of airport users, it raised a few hackles. People come from across the region to attend the fair without being questioned, he said; out-of-towners drive on city streets without paying taxes. It’s a matter of transparency, he was told, a matter of citizen ownership.

Scott Richardson waited until near the meeting’s end to vent a concern.

“These people look to you for correct information,” he said to Davis and Eckels. “You stand up there like you know and you give incorrect information.”

They have copies of all the documents related to the airport, Richardson said, but either have not read the information or were deliberately misleading the audience to sway the outcome.

When Eckels asked if the airport received a conditional-use permit for a new ramp built there in recent years, Richardson directed him to the city planning department.

Earlier in the evening, Eaton outlined the long process Lincoln County went through to build its airport in 1991.

It started with a needs assessment, which Lincoln County commissioners hired Morrison Maierle Engineers to conduct. Site selection followed, with the airport board, county commissioners and the Federal Aviation Administration all required to agree on the final pick of land that was sold voluntarily, he said. An environmental assessment followed — what’s best for the aeronautical community isn’t always best for the environment, he said. Signing off on a list of grant assurances came next, a requirement before receiving FAA money.

Design, bid documents and construction wrapped up the process. It’s built to B-2 airport standards that can accommodate bigger aircraft, but Eaton can’t say yet whether those larger planes will ever fly into Eureka.

“Try to come up with some agreement that you can all live with,” Eaton summed it up with Eureka’s pivotal lesson. As an aviator, Eureka mayor, council member, airport board member and a concerned citizen, he saw how all sides had to give a little in the process. “I can’t stress that any more.”

He had another caution for Kalispell.

“I wish ours was closer to town,” he said. “It’s eight miles out. Logistics get hard” when airport users have to arrange for transportation, lodging and other necessities.

Heine then stood before a wall map of the Flathead Valley, highlighting parcels that could be suitable for relocating Kalispell’s city airport. It’s not hard to find a 4,300-foot-long chunk of land on the valley floor — a proposed runway length — but finding a 160-acre piece with one owner in order to simplify acquisition is tricky, he said.

Eaton later pointed out that 1,200 feet of clear space is required at each end of the runway, adding a half mile in required land.

He pointed out one tract that’s a half-mile by a mile long near the head of Flathead Lake. But others noted later that its proximity to the Blasdel Waterfowl Production Area would be a red flag for wildlife proponents and aviation-safety specialists.

He ruled out most of the central valley, zoned for 80-acre agricultural parcels, because landowners there have successfully prevented intrusion. Going north of Kalispell wouldn’t be appropriate because of the conflict with Glacier Park International Airport.

Ultimately, he figured the best bets would be in the territory of Mennonite Church Road, Montana 35, Lake Blaine and Foothill Road, or in the Lower Valley where four or five private airports already operate.

“Although it looks like there’s a lot of land out there, it’s pretty broken up,” and hard to get the required length, Heine said.

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