Hangar And Terminal Area Outlined In Recent SCRAA Meeting
The terminal and hangar area as proposed by Snyder & Associates
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The planning needed for a new regional airport continues, as the South Central Regional Airport Agency recently held a board meeting in Pella to discuss recent updates and information that has recently become available tot he board.
The board currently remains the same as it did the previous year, with Jim Hansen once again presiding as board chair.
The board also received some planning for the terminal area, including hangars for aircraft, which included provisions for future expansion of the facility. Four 80 foot by 232 foot hangars for smaller personal aircraft and three corporate hangars to be 100 foot by 100 foot.
Beyond the hangars is the terminal building and a 100 foot by 100 foot shop for the fixed base operator to utilize in servicing aircraft.
If the two current airports are combined, the amount of aircraft from each current facility combined at the new regional airport will utilize a majority of the space. “You might lose some of the Osky ones to Ottumwa, depending on where the owners are,” said Hansen.
Hansen said that within the next year, the Board expects that the master plan for the new airport will be completed. An environmental and archeological study of the area will then be completed. “As part of that environmental survey, there’s a required public hearing,” Hansen explained. During the hearing, residents are allowed to express their opinions and thoughts about the project. The hearing is recorded and submitted to the FAA.
Once the master plan and environmental study or plan are completed, they should be submitted by years end. The FAA will then approve the project, or will return questions to the SCRAA for further clarification or changes. The FAA requires those steps be completed before the board can approach landowners about acquiring property. “Sometime in 2015, we should be in position to start talking about acquiring real estate,” said Hansen.
But before any offers are made, or talks of acquisition are made, Jerry Searle, of Snyder and Associates, plans on making contact with landowners within site A to “offer to have one-on-one meetings with them to answer any questions they have. If they choose to do so, he and I [Hansen] will sit down with them to try and answer any questions they have. No, we can’t have any discussions about, well we want to buy your land, how much and all that business until such time.”
The board also approved their 2014-15 budget. “Which is very similar to last year’s budget,” Hansen said. A request for an audited financial statement has gone unfulfilled until the board receives that in the near future. “It should be available sometime soon I would think,” Hansen added.
The board meets quarterly at this point, and the next meeting time will be available on the board’s website in the near future. http://www.scraaiowa.com/index.php
