Kalispell tweaks city airport lease agreement

by Lynnette Hintze / Daily Inter Lake
| October 8, 2017 8:23 PM

A potential agreement for the private management and maintenance of the Kalispell City Airport will be further reviewed by the Kalispell City Council during a work session on Monday, Oct. 9.

In July the city unveiled a draft plan to turn over the airport management to an independent association of users. The agreement would shift the responsibility of operating and paying for the airport to the users of the facility.

During a July work session several concerns emerged regarding future liabilities, should there be a default, Kalispell City Manager Doug Russell said in a memorandum to the council. Since then city staff and airport representatives have met several times to fine-tune the lease agreement, strengthening the language of what would occur with existing hangar leases in the event of a default.

Russell said Monday’s work session, during which no formal decisions can be made, will give the council a chance to discuss the agreement components and identify how to move forward. Representatives of the users group will be there to answer questions.

A year ago the City Council scuttled a planned Aug. 1 vote on whether to close the 88-year-old municipal airport and directed staff to start discussion with airport users who have offered to financially support its continued operation.

Local business owner and airport user Dewey Swank told the council last year that he and a group of individuals and businesses were interested in helping to fund the increasing costs of maintaining and operating the airport, which the city currently operates at a net loss.

The work session begins at 7 p.m. Monday at Kalispell City Hall, 201 First Ave. W. The council will take public comment following discussion of agenda items. In addition to the airport lease the council will continue its review of the downtown plan.

For more information and full meeting agendas, visit http://www.kalispell.com/mayor_and_city_council/.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.