Council Listens To Public Comments On Airport Authority
Council Listens To Public Comments On Airport Authority
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Council Listens To Public Comments On Airport AuthorityComments to the Kosciusko County Council Thursday evening on moving the Warsaw Municipal Airport from a board of aviation commissioners (BOAC) to a city-county airport authority weighed heavily on two factors: economic growth and taxes.
The council asked a few questions during the 95-minute meeting in the old county courtroom attended by about 80 people, but mostly they just listened. No votes or action were taken.
City Perspective
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer led a delegation from the city, local community members and elected officials speaking in favor of the airport authority. The Warsaw BOAC in February approved recommending to the city council that the airport authority be approved, with the city council unanimously approving a resolution at their March 20 meeting. It’s now up to the county council to make a decision.
“The Warsaw Airport has been operated by the Warsaw Aviation Board for 76 years. A $61,000 investment by the board in 1947 was recently estimated to be worth somewhere north of $100 million replacement costs. Warsaw Airport has evolved into a critical economic development asset for our entire county. It is a gateway to global markets for our manufacturing community,” Thallemer said.
He talked about how the county is the envy of almost every county in Indiana with its abundance of lakes, productive farm ground, a “good balance of population and quality of life” and “we are abundantly blessed with a legacy of high-tech manufacturing that goes back to the turn of the century. Not the last turn of the century, but the one before that.”
Thallemer said the county’s manufacturing industry continues to grow and expand. “Our manufacturing partners create opportunity for every person in this county with skilled, high-paying jobs and sustainable career paths. For every direct manufacturing job, an additional 1.42 jobs are created that supports the industry and workforce needs,” he said.
Seven of the 10 top-paying taxpayers in the county are orthopedic manufacturers, and five of the top 25 county taxpayers are agriculture businesses, he stated.
“I don’t think there is one person in this room that enjoys paying taxes. I know I don’t. But, for the benefit of our local taxpayers, most counties don’t enjoy the broad economic base that we are blessed with, all from the investment that industry makes in Kosciusko County,” he said.
Thallemer concluded his comments by talking about the local partnerships the Warsaw Airport has with industry that creates “a synergy that drives our local economy and opens many more doors when we work together. Those partnerships are inseparable and will only strengthen with your support of this resolution.”
Approximately half of the meeting was a presentation by Airport Manager Nick King and attorney Don Tribbett. King talked about what the airport brings to the community, its economic impact, the users of the airport and the infrastructure replacement projects going on in the next couple years and recently completed.
“Economic impact is something that is the biggest driving factor behind an airport. Currently, we support about 117 jobs out at Warsaw Airport and our labor income is over $6.8 million. Our GDP for the airport is just over $12 million, and we as an airport have a direct output of $23 million. That number is brought to us by an INDOT (Office) of Aviation who did an economic impact study back in 2022,” King said.
He said the Warsaw Airport is in the top five airports in the state and is just shy of an $860 million-a-year economic impact to the community because the airport is here and operating.
During public comments later in the meeting, resident Terry Martin questioned the accuracy of King’s figures and said he’d rather the issue go to a public referendum. However, the only way the airport authority can go to a referendum is if the county council approves the resolution and then, during the 30-day remonstrance period, 456 signatures are collected and verified by the county clerk’s office, according to Tribbett and Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell. There is no other way for the matter to go to a public vote.
King also spoke about some of the users of the airport, which includes the larger biomedical companies like Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, but also companies like Image Air Charter, Explorer Van, Polk Equipment Group, PWI, Silveus Insurance, Chore Time Brock, Louis-Dreyfus and more.
Delving into recent projects the airport has worked on, King said the north-south runway was replaced in 2019. The airport originally budgeted to pay its 5% share of that project, but working with the airport’s consulting firm, they were able to find additional grant funding and get the project 100% funded by FAA grants.
The AEP power line lowering project has been talked about for decades, and will cost around $7.6 million. Currently, the FAA is paying for 90% of the project, the state is paying 5% and the airport is using its income from fuel sales to pay for the remaining 5%.
Besides grants and oil and fuel sales, the other ways the airport is funded includes land leases, hangar rent, cash farm ground rent and tax funding. The large, necessary capital projects are what’s putting the stress on the airport’s annual budget, King said.
If the airport authority goes through, he said the state-allowed tax rate maximum is 3.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. If they went to the maximum rate, King said that - along with fuel sales, excise tax, circuit breakers, etc. - would give the airport an operating fund of just shy of $3.2 million. Another fund would be about just over $200,000, for a total of $3.475 million annually.
“We are not asking for that. We are asking to take our budget up just a little bit and we’re coming in at a little under what the half of what the maximum allowed by the state is. We would like to see a levy of around that $3.25 million,” King said.
Tribbett talked about the legal structure and board for the authority. He said airport authorities are a creation of state statute, which controls what they can and can’t do. He said if the county council approves the authority, there is a 30-day remonstrance period. If no remonstrance is properly filed, then the authority will come into existence either on July 1 or Jan. 1. The goal in this case is for the authority not to come into existence until Jan. 1.
The airport authority board would have six members, three appointed by the city mayor and three appointed by the county commissioners. The city and county councils would have authority to review and revise the authority’s annual budget.
Economic Impact
Two state representatives and a representative of 2nd District U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym spoke to the county council about the economic impact of the airport on the community.
District 22 state Rep. Craig Snow said the biggest part of his job Thursday was listening and try to figure out more what the authority is all about. He said he’s talked to King, as well as representatives of the airport authorities in South Bend and Fort Wayne. He’s also looked at the state statute on airport authorities.
“If there are questions you have after all of this, there are things we can change in statute to kind of help shape Kosciusko County,” Snow said, though it probably won’t be this year.
“This is truly a local issue. It’s a difficult decision for you all. The city’s made theirs, of course. I, personally, love economic development,” he said. “... Economic development, I see there’s a lot of opportunities for projects to get done in this county that will help.”
He said he gets the concern about raising taxes, but the authority is also an investment in the community, though he supports the county council’s decision either way.
Griffin Nate, district director for Yakym, read a letter to the county council from Yakym. In part, the letter states, “As the Orthopedic Capital of the World, the economy of Warsaw and Kosciusko County more broadly requires reliable and accessible transportation infrastructure. The Warsaw Municipal Airport serves as a critical cog in the orthopedic industry supply chain, from incoming inputs to outgoing life-saving devices on delivery. It also serves as a selling point for businesses looking to grow and create jobs in Kosciusko County. The Warsaw Municipal Airport is a valuable resource in promoting economic development in our community.”
District 18 state Rep. David Abbott said he saw the airport authority as a great opportunity economically.
“What I see hear, with what we’re doing with U.S. 30, the airport would be a critical companion to that - those initiatives to improve those. It’s critical to keeping not only what we’re doing now ... we need to look forward,” he said.
Industry Representation
Jim Lancaster, a lifetime community member and Zimmer Biomet’s president of its global reconstruction business, brought Zimmer Biomet’s support for the airport.
“Zimmer Biomet has an incredible presence in our community. Not only as the largest employer, but also in various ways in which the company invests in and leverages the amenities that Warsaw has to offer. One of them is our local airport,” he said. “The Warsaw Airport has and will continue to be an invaluable aspect of our infrastructure as Zimmer Biomet. We live in a unique community that may be small, but has a mighty opportunity to continue to do great things.”
Zimmer Biomet recognizes the importance of the long-term maintenance and vision needed for the airport, he said.
Bob Vitoux, OrthoWorx CEO, said the community is blessed with great bases in agriculture and orthopedics, as well as many other companies.
“But I think it has to think about what does the future hold in store? So that’s what I would really encourage the council to think about, is not where is the puck today, but where is the puck going?” he said.
There’s many orthopedic companies in Kosciusko County already, with many other companies wanting to come to this community, he stated.
Vitoux brought up the late co-founder of Biomet, Dr. Dane Miller.
“This is the way I think about it. If Dane Miller was still alive, and still here, he would find a way to convince people that this is the right thing to do,” Vitoux said. “... Dane’s looking down on us and he’s saying, ‘Do the right thing in this community. Let’s create yet a better place than we already have.’”
Other speakers on the city’s behalf included attorney and BOAC President Jay Rigdon, KEDCO CEO Alan Tio represented by Suzie Light, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President Rob Parker and Dan Robinson, BOAC member and co-owner of Robinson Construction and Westhill Development.
Rigdon said the BOAC has worked very hard to make sure the airport is an economic asset for the community, not just for the city of Warsaw but all of Kosciusko County.
Light talked about the county investing in its own economic growth. “If we do not invest in our economic growth, in a few years we will see the opposite of a thriving community. We will see a dying community,” she said.
Taking off her “KEDCO hat,” Light said she and her husband live in Wayne Township and their family business owns property in Warsaw and Winona Lake. They are conservative and frugal.
“But for us to say, ‘Don’t tax us because we don’t use the airport,’ it’s foolish,” she said. Not all Wayne Township residents use the Warsaw-Wayne Township public library, nor do they all have children in school, but they support those things with their tax dollars “because we benefit as a community from those important valuable things that create valuable community citizens. Those important businesses that use the airport are valuable community businesses. I want our community to be vibrant and thrive, because I want it to be a place that my grandchildren want to come back to and live in and call home.”
Parker talked about how without growth, the community dies, while Robinson talked about his support for the airport authority.
Public Comments
Jeremy Morrison, who owns Morrison Aviation Services at the airport, was the first member of the public to speak on the airport authority and he was in favor of it. He called it an investment into the community.
Gary Parker talked about how the city will have a new mayor come Jan. 1 so the county should wait until he gets into office and see if he can help the airport out.
Don Zolman said he thought the matter also should go to a referendum. While there was a good turnout Thursday, he said the county’s population is over 80,000.
He said he wasn’t against progress and development in the community, but there should be orderly development. He said he could see a lot of pluses for improving the airport, but “I think the people promoting this need to sell us. Sell me on what you’re wanting to do.”
Warsaw Councilman Mike Klondaris spoke about how the city has been working diligently to attract new businesses to the community while retaining current businesses.
Dr. Lee Harman, Warsaw resident and former school superintendent, said, “I’m compelled to speak because I care about this community. I’ve never wanted to live anyplace else. I’ve lived here my entire life. I see this, to me, as a slam dunk. We ought to have this airport expansion.”
He referenced singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell who wrote a song with a refrain that goes, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Harman said he could tell the council from personal experience, having recently suffered a loss, “that is absolutely true. And I would add another word in that refrain. ‘You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s really gone.’”
Besides growth and expansion, he asked the council to think about retention of the assets the county has and how important the airport is to retaining those assets. “Think about the economic impact if this does not happen as it’s been laid out here. I understand it’s going to cost money, but there is such a thing as the common good.”
The last two people to speak were against the airport authority. Cathy Lemberg supported a referendum on the issue, while Plain Township Trustee Craig Charlton said that not only should it be on a referendum, but also that the industries that use the airport should pay for it, not the people.
