BILL, PENDING BEFORE BUSH COULD BENEFIT AIRPORT HERE

Legislation passed this month by the Senate could make additional federal funds available for improvements at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

The bill, now cleared for action by the president, would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs.

U.S. Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., is a principal supporter of the provisions to benefit airport expansion. He said he welcomed passage of the bill. Danforth is the ranking Republican member of the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FAA.

One of the principal features of the bill would improve the eligibility of medium-sized airports such as Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Springfield and Columbia for federal funds to modernize and expand terminal areas. The measure also would increase minimum annual federal entitlements from $300,000 to $400,000 for those airports that secure at least 10,000 enplanements annually.

Cape Girardeau formerly received the entitlement funds, but last year boardings here dipped below the 10,000 threshold.

Airport Manager Mark Seesing said it doesn't appear the boarding decline is a trend that will change any time soon.

"We're at 6,336 so far this year, which compares to 7,137 at this time last year," he said. "Our total for the year last year was only about 8,500, so there's no way we're going to make it."

But Seesing said another part of the bill likely would benefit Cape Girardeau's airport. That provision would renew Missouri's participation in a three-state pilot block-grant program, which allows the Missouri Aviation Department to distribute funds to general aviation airports.

Seesing said the program allows the state with FAA approval to determine the best allocation of federal airport improvement funds for improvement projects at airports like Cape Girardeau's.

"It's a program that, since our boardings are under 10,000, we will now fall under," he said. "The state allocates funds according to federal guidelines."

Seesing said Cape Girardeau is one of only a few Missouri general aviation airports that has commercial airline service, which should help to secure funds through the pilot block-grant program.

"It's going to take a while, because they're so backed up right now with projects," he said. "But we do stand a good chance being one of only a couple commercial airports in the block-grant program of getting some of that money."

He said that ultimately the program could yield more money for individual projects than the FAA entitlement program has provided in the past.

"I think we will have opportunities there to do larger projects than before, where we were only allowed to hold the $300,000 for three years under the entitlement," Seesing said. "This program will provide funding based on the projects we're doing, not on the available entitlement money."

Seesing said he was unfamiliar with the details of the bill, particularly the provision that deals with expansion of terminal areas.

The city last year approved a $1 million project to renovate the airport's terminal building. The project was changed several times due to FAA changes in how much of the project the agency would help fund.

Because the renovation project already is under construction and is expected to be finished early next spring, Seesing said the bill wouldn't affect Cape Girardeau anyway.

Another provision in the bill would allow municipalities with contract tower arrangements such as Cape Girardeau to continue extended hours of service.

Seesing said he hopes the new bill also would provide additional funding to staff the control tower during extended hours of operation.