CARES Act funding available for Cape airport plan

This story is updated.

Significant monies from the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Security (CARES) Act are available to help cover costs associated with the Terminal Area Master Plan (TAMP) for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the City Council was told Monday.

Katrina Amos, regional airport manager, said $17.39 million of CARES Act funding is likely to be available over the next four years for infrastructure needs such as a new or renovated passenger terminal, new hangars and a control tower, plus an expanded airport maintenance facility.

Additional funding is available through the Capital Improvement Sales Tax passed in 2019 and funds from the airport's improvement fund for a grand total of $25.34 million over the quadrennium.

While the TAMP presentation was billed as an update, following an explanation of plan objectives in June, Amos told the seven council members in attendance the federal money presents an unusual opportunity.

"(CARES Act money) is the least restrictive funding that we'll get," said Amos, who replaced retired airport manager Bruce Loy earlier this year.

"(The city) should strike while the iron is hot," she added.

No action on the plan was requested nor given.

Nick Brown, an aviation consultant with Cincinnati-based Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, gave the council exhaustive detail on the TAMP update, which the city's Airport Advisory Board endorsed for presentation to the council on an 8-1 vote.

The master plan is based on an evaluation of perceived airport needs over a 20-year period.

COVID-impacted passenger volume

Brown told the council there have been 4,700 "enplanements" thus far in 2020, down from 11,656 in 2019.

The falling numbers are due to COVID-19.

"We expect it will take (the airport) two years to recover from the pandemic," Brown said.

Brown noted the plan calls for six new "box," or corporate-style, hangars and 15 T-hangers for general aviation.

TAMP also calls for four ticket counters, up from the current two, with an additional security checkpoint for what Brown called "redundancy."

Estimated costs

• Non-terminal expense options range from $1 million to $8 million.
• Terminal building options range from $6.2 million to $7.7 million.
• Control tower options range from $3.8 million to $9.3 million.

Questions

Amos was asked whether the existing terminal building could be repurposed.

"(The idea) warrants further exploration," she said.

First Ward Councilman Dan Presson was interested in the growth potential for the airport's hangers.

"We hear a lot about shortage of hangars at Cape Airport," he said.

Urban deer hunt

Former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a city resident, asked the council to allow the city's administrative staff to begin "getting some facts," in consultation with the Missouri Department of Conservation, about the size of the deer population within city limits.

First Ward resident Bonnie Coy-Svenson added her voice to Kinder's.

"We need to pursue the idea (of a controlled deer hunt) again," she said.

The council narrowly approved a hunt in 2012 but the ordinance was overturned in 2013 by voter referendum.

Mayor Bob Fox recommended city staff be authorized to "do some research" on deer metrics.

Other business

• The City Council reappointed incumbents Beverly Evans and Kevin Noel from the 4th Ward and Pete Frazier from the 1st Ward back to the city's Parks and Recreation Board. Their terms were set to expire Oct. 29.
• Presson announced an "improved property of the month" recognition has been established for the Red Star neighborhood.