Airport in state park at center of dispute

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. -- In the latest in a long series of disagreements, a dispute over a recent renovation project at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park has environmentalists and park advocates pushing to have the airport closed.

The Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport has been debated since it was first proposed in 1967. But Osage Beach officials say the airport in Missouri's largest state park is key to the region's continued economic growth.

Currently, small private planes are the bulk of the airport's business, but Ozark Airlines serviced the airport when it opened in 1969. The airport's 6,500-foot runway is still licensed to handle 727-model passenger jets.

The latest dispute is between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the city of Osage Beach. The department owns the airport and ran it from its opening until it leased the airport to the city in 1999.

The department says the city violated its lease by doing extensive improvement work without approval -- and damaging the environment while doing so.

Federal Aviation Administration rules required that a safety zone be added to the end of the runway. Osage Beach officials told the state that they would need to clear 200 feet for the safety area, which the state approved. The state also approved the construction of 10 new hangars.

Mulch piles

But the city cleared about 20 acres of trees and grassland, leaving two huge mulch piles.

The work violated Missouri's clean water laws and may have broken federal environmental and historic preservation laws, according to a letter from state Natural Resources Department director Stephen Mahfood to Osage Beach Mayor Penny Lyons.

The mulch piles may be leaching toxins into a watershed, Mahfood wrote. Plus, the letter said, hiking, biking and equestrian trails were affected.

The state wants the city to pay for the value of the destroyed trees and to ensure that future projects get proper approval. State officials also want the city to mitigate the environmental effect of the project, which city officials say they are doing.

"We made some mistakes," conceded Barbara Bramblett, Osage Beach's city administrator. "We could have benefited from closer consultation with DNR. And we have to accept responsibility for that."

Bramblett said clearing the additional land was necessary to grade the required 200-foot safety area, she said.

No apologies

And she makes no apologies for the city's desire to see the airport grow.

"One of the things really necessary for an area to flourish is good air service," Bramblett said. "We're pretty much a drive-to location. If we could attract better air service, that would give us an opportunity to grow our business."

To that end, modifications to the modest terminal and a security fence for the runway are planned.

Such expansion "will do tremendous violence to the park," predicted Susan Flader, president of the Missouri Parks Association. "They'll push for whatever they can get."

The association and the Missouri State Park Advisory Board advocate closing the airport and reconverting the area to parkland.

The airport has been controversial from the moment then-Gov. Warren Hearnes conceived it in 1967. He decided to build the airport on about 200 acres of hilltop land in the state park.

At its dedication in 1969, Hearnes called the airport "an investment in the development of tourism" that would help spur rapid growth by ensuring regular commercial air service.

Such service never came. The airport is used mostly by people with second homes in the area, who fly in and tie down their private planes for as little as $5 a night. On summer weekends, as many as 60 or 70 planes fly in.