CAPE GIRARDEAU MAY TEMPORARILY FOOT BILL FOR AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER

The city of Cape Girardeau likely will foot the bill to keep the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport tower open at least temporarily once federal funding ends Dec. 31.

City Manager Michael Miller said the city has some reserve funds that could be used to operate the tower at its current level through the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Miller and his staff said Wednesday that the tower is too important to close and that short-term funding would give city officials time to look at the whole funding picture.

Airport Manager Greg Chenoweth said, "We don't want to lose the tower. We feel it is a vital part of the airport."

Any short-term funding would have to be approved by the City Council. The issue is expected to come before the council before the end of December.

The tower costs about $170,000 annually to operate. The city has been operating the tower under a contract with the Federal Aviation Administration.

But Tuesday, the FAA announced it was eliminating tower funding for seven airports in 13 states because its analysis showed the costs outweighed the benefits.

The Cape Girardeau airport is the only one slated to lose federal funding in the four-state area of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri, U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond's office reported.

City officials hope the FAA will reconsider its decision.

If not, the state may consider funding the air traffic control tower.

The state highway commission recommended earlier this year that the state make up the loss of any federal funds to keep open airport towers in Missouri.

John Oliver, a Cape Girardeau lawyer and the commission's vice chairman, said the commission made its decision knowing that three Missouri airports -- including Cape Girardeau Regional Airport -- were threatened with funding cuts.

"The towers that already are operating, the commission feels, are essential to the safety of our citizens and continued economic prosperity of our state," Oliver said.

He said the commission had recommended that state lawmakers include about $750,000 in the state transportation department's budget next year to fund airport towers, if needed.

The Missouri Airport Managers Association has endorsed the highway commission's plan.

While the air traffic controllers at the Cape Girardeau airport work for the city under a contractual arrangement, the four-story tower and the equipment belong to the FAA.

The FAA said it will give the city until Jan. 1, 1997, to decide if it wants to continue operating the tower. If not, the FAA will begin dismantling the facility.

If the city wants to continue operating the tower, the FAA will work to transfer ownership and equipment to the city.

The future of the Cape Girardeau tower is the topic of conversation for air traffic controllers who don't know if they will be working here in 1996.

"It really puts a damper on the holiday season," said Larry Davis, who manages the tower.

He is trying to remain cheerful for the sake of his 6-year-old son. "I don't want to bring his Christmas down."

The city employs five air traffic controllers, four of them part-time. Davis is the only full-time worker.

Three part-time controllers each work 30 hours a week, and the fourth fills in as needed.

The regular part-time controllers make about $30,000 a year.

The salaries are set under federal guidelines. That could change if the city pays the entire cost. The controllers then would become city employees.

That suits Davis, a former air traffic controller at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, just fine. His wife's family lives in Cape Girardeau.

He said there are more than 30 cities nationwide that operate airport towers without any federal funds.

The Cape Girardeau tower is manned seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the winter and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the summer.