Airport hopes for upgrades
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By Jeff Snyder
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — The Airport Commission finally had a chance to get together after several attempts to hold a meeting that had been delayed due to various scheduling conflicts.
Commission members gathered on Monday in the Mount Ayr City Hall conference room to discuss the immediate future of the airport facilities. Judge Lewis Field has been an important centerpiece and bragging point for Mount Ayr for years.
The commission and the DOT (department of transportation) have invested considerable time and finances in modernizing the airport with the completion of the paved runway and the newly refreshed hanger facilities.
In order to complete the hanger project, the commission said that additional funding will be needed.
The No. 1 priority is to repair the airport office located inside the hanger facility. The commission was clear that in order to attract additional revenue to the facility it must be completed and look the part. This starts with the renovation of the airport office which has fallen into disrepair over the years. The commission hopes to have the funding secured to complete this task in advance of the upcoming “Fly In Breakfast” planned for Saturday, September 12. This event, while not a formal fundraiser, will showcase the advancements made in the Mount Ayr facility and potentially lead to future donations to help offset the expenses needed to complete the projects. Organizers are hopeful that friends of commission members will attend the breakfast and in doing so fly into Mount Air in planes that are “air show caliber.”
At least one of these “friends” has a vintage World War II plane that would be a great draw for the event. Commission members talked about using personal funds to cover the cost of the breakfast further indicating their devotion to these facilities.
Commission members plan on attending the next city council meeting scheduled for August 10 to present to the council their plan for the future of the airport. The intention is to lobby the council to amend current budgets to allow for supplemental funding that would enable the commission to finish the office job before the breakfast next month.
The commission wrapped up the meeting with a free form discussion on how to get the airport better involved in the community. They discussed how other similar community airports operate and how they draw revenue into their facilities. They talked about other airports that have special fees for airport use including the agriculture companies that help with aerial pest control and in some cases air application of liquid fertilizers. Members are planning to visit a number of neighboring airports to pick up on some new ideas for the future of Mount Ayr’s municipal airport.
