Sikeston looks to make 'best airport we can have'

SIKESTON, Mo. -- During a special meeting Wednesday, City Council members approved the submission of an updated airport layout plan to the Missouri Department of Transportation's Aviation Section for review.

The city must have an updated airport layout plan approved to be eligible for any future federal grant funding for airport improvements, according to City Manager Doug Friend.

John Chittenden of Waters Engineering, the consulting engineer for the ALP project, made a presentation on the plan and its impact on the adjacent Sports and Recreation Complex and Country Club.

"This airport is fully capable of being a major recipient for business jet aircraft," Chittenden said. "All the standards can be met with a few modifications."

Once these are made, the airport will have the "best type of approaches available for both ends (of the runway)," Chittenden said. "There are only going to be two other airports of this size in the state that are going to have that."

The major issues facing the airport are its taxiway being too close to the runway and objects which are not in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations regarding airspace around the airport.

"In order to meet proper safety standards for business jet aircraft, the taxiway needs to be relocated," Chittenden said.

The taxiway is currently only 262.5 feet from the runway's centerline when it supposed to be at least 300 feet away, he explained.

"The nice part about (relocating) it is we only have to pay 5 percent of it and when we get done we won't have an airport that is substandard," Chittenden said.

Objects that must be moved include a 1,000-foot section of Campanella Drive along with fencing and streetlights in a 2,000 foot stretch of this road.

On the east side of the airport, objects which must be removed or moved farther away include a 1,000-foot long hedge which separates the airport from the Country Club's "back nine" golf holes, some fencing and some trees.

While a total of 34 trees have "obstruction issues," not all of those may necessarily need to be removed.

Missouri Department of Transportation officials "are making an analysis and will tell us what we need to do," Chittenden said.

Projects which move or remove these objects may also receive 95 percent funding, he said.

"All this stuff is important for the safety of the runway so it's grant eligible," Chittenden said.

County Club officials at the meeting said they have wanted something more visually appealing than the hedge anyway but expressed concerns over the time it would take to grow another 15-20 foot high hedge.

In addition to serving as a separating barrier between the golf course and the airport, the hedge also blocks wind which would otherwise affect play on the golf course, they explained.

"This is a balancing act for us. We want to have the best airport that we can have in this area and we want to have the best country club, the best golf course, that we can have," said Mayor Mike Marshall. "Whatever we've got to do to make both things happen, we're going to do. ... If there's not money available through this program to replace (the hedge) the city will help come up with some money to lessen the burden. ... We've got to make this airport No. 1."

Object removal projects won't begin until 2009, Chittenden said.

Chittenden also discussed cost estimates for short range and long range projects.

The city has about $3.5 million in combined allocated funds from a block grant program for runway and taxiway work, entitlement program funds and the required local matching funds, according to Chittenden.

The first priority listed under short range projects is a runway overlay at an estimated cost of $1.58 million.

Second is the object removals at an estimated cost of $340,000 followed by the taxiway relocation with an estimated price tag of $1.83 million.

The last short range project on the list is an apron overlay and expansion at an estimated cost of $850,000.

The summary of the ALP lists the local cost to the city for these projects as $230,000 providing the grant funds are received by the city requiring a 5 percent match.

An expansion of the administration building and new hangars along with associated paving and parking with costs totaling $1 million are listed as long range projects.