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The runway extension project at the Warsaw Municipal Airport was discussed at the Board of Aviation Commissioners meeting Tuesday.
Mary Kerstein, CHA Consulting project manager, said that before December’s commission meeting Airport Manager Nick King and representatives from CHA and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) were at the Statehouse discussing runway 9-27 “trying to recapture the full length of the runway” and some of the future projects associated with CR 100 East. There was discussion of having a fact sheet for runway 9-27 for helping getting dollars outside of the Federal Aviation Administration for the project.
There was a lot of discussion about some of the projects in Warsaw with some people from INDOT and how the airport can capitalize on those projects. Representatives from INDOT asked for a fact sheet to be put together about some of the “potential crises associated with those projects.”
King said as the airport works towards lengthing its main runway and recapturing the displaced threshold on runway 9-27, “what happens with 100 East, is obviously foremost.”
The airport is still pushing for a tunnel underneath CR 100E, which King said was the preferred alternative the airport has made known. However, he said doing so will have a great cost.
Some of the other options being looked that may be available include rerouting traffic or looping the road. Local stakeholders, including representatives at the state and federal levels and city and county members, will have to be talked to and told about the importance of CR 100E, especially with “some of the significant changes that are coming down the pipeline in the next five to 10 years,” King said, noting the U.S. 30 bypass project.
He noted there are a lot of people that have buy-in with the runway extension project and are weighing in. There are also a lot of stakeholders in the project.
Bringing INDOT into the project and explaining what’s going on locally will allow INDOT to make plans. It’s definitely something the city and county needs to be looking at, he said.
The main point of the meeting at the Statehouse in December was to get the ball rolling with INDOT and start looking at creative ways “to solve this issue,” he said.
At the beginning of the meeting, Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose swore in Ernie Wiggins, who replaced Gene Zale. Zale retired in December after serving on the board for 45 years.
Wiggins is a 1967 Warsaw High School graduate and 1972 Purdue University graduate. He served as a certified public accountant in the area beginning in 1980 and was elected to the Warsaw Common Council in 1984. He then became mayor on March 1, 1997, and served until December 2011. He also was a member of the Kosciusko County Council from 2016 to 2022. Wiggins received the 2008 Indiana Association of Cities and Towns Distinguished Service Award, the 2017 Big Brothers Big Sisters Charlie Smith Award for Community Service and the 2013 Lieutenant Governor Leadership Award, according to provided information.
Before the swearing in, Grose said Wiggins was a role model when it comes to being mayor. Grose said he didn’t think he “would be standing here as mayor” if it wasn’t for Wiggins’ guidance and mentoring.
In other business, the board:
• Selected Dan Robinson to serve as president, John Yingling as vice president and Steven Smilay as secretary in 2026.
• Approved an CHA invoice of $1,829.15 for the improvement of runway 9-27 safety area phase 1 project.
• Approved a CHA invoice of $3,913.45 for the corporate taxilane E-1 rehabilitation/reconstruction project.
• Approved a CHA invoice of $11,875 for the runway 9-27 rehabilitation project.
