CITY HOPES FOR STATE MONEY FOR AIR TOWER

Area officials want the state to fund operation of the air traffic control tower at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

State Rep. Joe Heckemeyer of Sikeston wants the legislature to allocate $200,000 to operate the tower. A House subcommittee has added it to the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Gov. Mel Carnahan's budget recommendations didn't include state funding for the airport tower. But Heckemeyer believes there is a good chance lawmakers will finance the tower.

Airport officials are pushing for state money because the federal government has pulled out of the funding picture.

The Federal Aviation Administration decided late last year that the cost of funding the tower outweighed the benefits.

In January, the city took over personnel costs. The FAA is still paying utility and maintenance costs until April. After that the city will pay all the bills.

The tower had cost $170,000 a year to operate when the FAA was paying the bills.

Since taking charge in January, the city has cut personnel costs.

Under FAA management, the salaries of the five air traffic controllers had to fall within federal guidelines. But as city employees they no longer come under the federal scale.

The city has taken over the tower operation for at least the short term. The city expects to spend $77,000 to operate the tower during the first six months of 1996. But airport officials hope the state will step in to fund it after that.

"It is our view that this is a safety issue that transcends just local government," said J. Fred Waltz, airport board chairman.

"It is a regional airport," he said. "Our focus is on obtaining state funding, which we think is the logical resource to go to."

Waltz said the city had to step in to keep the tower open. "The city did the right thing: They stepped in there and made sure the tower wasn't dismantled."

Heckemeyer said the airport and its tower are important to the whole Southeast Missouri area.

State Rep. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau agreed. But Kasten said state funding is far from certain at this point. She said there is no assurance that state funding would be allocated beyond fiscal 1997.

Still, state funding for even a year would be a benefit. "We are buying a little time here," she said.