I am pretty sure all of what I am about to write has been in the newspaper before, but I think it bears repeating. See, I’m hearing a lot of rumor and innuendo and snarkiness regarding the airport expansion. So I thought it might be instructional to recap some facts to assuage concerns of county residents who live north of the airport. First of all, I think it’s important to note that CR 100E will not be closed. Originally, when engineers and Federal Aviation Administration officials scoped out the proposed runway extension, that was the plan. But after a justifiable outcry from residents, that has changed. Closing CR 100E would have created a nightmare traffic situation for the thousands of commuters who use that road every day. So, in much-deserved deference to those opposed to closing the road, the airport and the FAA reconfigured the project to allow CR 100E to remain open. They looked into a tunnel under the roadway, but cost and water table concerns ruined the feasibility of that plan. Next came an almost mile-long extension of the road around the east end runway. That was when 1,000 feet was to be added to the east end that currently butts up against CR 100E. But the project was altered again. As it stands now, the project calls for 500 feet to be added to each end of the runway. This means that the addition to CR 100E will be less than a half mile. Engineers say that the road will be radiused and banked so that traffic will be able to negotiate around the end of the runway at speeds around 45 mph. They say it will take the average motorist between 30 and 45 seconds to negotiate the new portion of roadway. The project includes the following: Extending the runway – 500 feet on each end – to a completed length of 7,000 feet. Rerouting CR 100E around the east end of the runway. Lowering the high-tension power lines east of the airport. Relocating the instrument landing system shack, glide slope and localizer. Installing a new approach lighting system, which the airport currently doesn’t have. Ninety-five percent of the cost of the $6 million project will be paid by the FAA with the airport picking up the rest of the tab. There has been lots of talk about wasting taxpayer money on this project and that’s not necessarily the case. The money from the FAA comes from a fund called the Federal Airport Improvement Program. The money in that federal fund is generated through fuel excise taxes and other passenger facility charges nationwide. The FFA then doles out those funds to projects it deems worthy. So the bulk of the project is being funded with money collected from people who use the airport system across the country.Certainly, the people whose money winds up in that federal fund are taxpayers and it is federal money. I guess one could argue that if the FAA dumped all that money into the treasury, there would be fewer tax dollars needed. But I don’t think it’s fair to say local taxpayers are being fleeced by this project. The local share of funding for the project comes almost exclusively from fuel sales at Warsaw Municipal Airport, so, again, it’s not like the taxpayers are picking up the tab. Finally, all the land for the project – with the exception of 20 to 40 feet of right of way, is already owned by the airport. Whether the expansion is absolutely needed is debatable. Some pilots say they can land there just fine. That it’s not a matter of safety as much as it is convenience. Other say it truly is a matter of safety. Some people say improvements to the airport could help our county attract and retain jobs and businesses. Others say that it wouldn’t make that big a difference and the businesses around here aren’t going to leave just because of the airport. After reading this, if you think this expansion is a dopey idea, that’s a completely valid opinion. But at least your opinion is based on facts.
