Airport improvement plans in holding pattern

Construction of a new terminal and control tower at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport isn't ready to take off yet despite voter approval Tuesday of a sales tax to help fund the projects.

Deputy city manager Molly Mehner said Thursday that is because those projects must be coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, which may want the city to undertake other airport improvements first.

City officials said before the election that they planned to issue bonds to finance the cost of the airport projects and a new city hall.

Revenue from the 15-year extension of the sales tax would retire the debt.

Mehner said city officials have now decided to "wait just a little bit" to issue the bonds in order to determine the scheduling of the airport projects, which are estimated to cost $6.8 million.

She said city staff must first "sit down with the FAA and make sure that we understand their expectations of us."

According to Mehner and airport manager Bruce Loy, the FAA may want the city to improve the taxiways before building a new terminal and tower.

In addition, the FAA will require the city to do a master plan, including a needs and location assessment, before a new terminal can be built, Mehner said.

The airport terminal and tower projects are expected to cost $6.8 million with city officials expecting to receive $2.5 million in federal grants to put toward the project.

City officials are looking to buy 50 acres northwest of the airport as a site for the new terminal.

Mehner said the city will likely have the property appraised soon as the first step toward acquiring the land.

The city expects to receive $600,000 in federal grant money next fiscal year, but "the FAA may want us to use that for critical infrastructure needs like pavement," she said.

The FAA also wants a perimeter fence erected around the airport boundaries, Mehner said.

Federal funds would pay for 90% of the estimated $1.3 million cost, with the city paying the remainder.

The project is slated for construction next year, according to the city's capital improvements plan.

City officials said in 2016 that the project involves installation of a chain-link fence around the more-than-600-acre site to keep people and coyotes out.

Loy said the fence has to be installed so that coyotes and other intruders can't dig under the fence.

Both Loy and Mehner said that the federal government requires environmental and archaeological assessments of the site before a fence can be erected.

As for construction of a new air traffic control tower, Mehner said the city may look to replace the existing tower with a "virtual tower."

Such a tower would have mounted cameras that would provide 365-degree views of the airport, which would be seen by a controller operating from an office located elsewhere on the property, according to Mehner.

But the FAA has yet to certify such technology, she said. Two airports, one in Virginia and another in Colorado, are seeking certification now, Mehner said.

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