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Residents speak out on airport

Some like current facility; others want new terminal
Crews at Durango-La Plata County Airport simultaneously load a United Airlines plane headed to Denver, left, and unload passengers from a Frontier airlines flight to Denver in 2011. Plans are underway to expand or build a new terminal to handle increasing growth in passenger traffic, and residents weighed in on the options at an open house Thursday.

Until now, it’s mostly been the 50-member Planning Advisory Committee, Durango City Council and the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners who’ve weighed in on proposals to expand the Durango-La Plata County Airport. On Thursday, residents got the chance to check out the options and put in their two-cents’ worth.

“We’re all for the new airport terminal,” said Georgia Gramlich, first vice chairwoman of Four Corners Economic Development. “The general consensus for businesspeople in Farmington is that everybody’s going through Durango. And with the successful oil-drilling results around Farmington, the prospects for growth there look good.”

About 60 people visited the open house set up with charts, maps, environmental surveys and potential airport layouts around the meeting room at the Durango Community Recreation Center. The presentation explained historical growth and projected growth in passengers leaving Durango, made an argument for the need for a new airport and presented three alternatives to meet current and expected needs.

The three options are: remodel the current terminal, build a new terminal next to the old terminal, or build a new terminal complex on the east side of the runways.

“I was hoping there’d be a presentation with an overview before they started asking for preferences,” Gary Penington said. “But one of the things that most struck me is that we’re always complaining about the airlines, but we don’t think about how our infrastructure doesn’t serve them, how we make serving Durango difficult.”

There were no costs associated with each alternative, but they’re expected to be available for a second open house scheduled for November. Numbers for a new terminal complex have been estimated at $143 million.

Attendees at the event were told that up to 80 percent of the funding would be expected to come from the Federal Aviation Administration and the remaining money to be split between the city and the county.

“This is incorrect,” Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the FAA, said in an email. “Based on the type and number of air carrier passengers the airport serves, the FAA funds development at the Durango-La Plata County Airport at 90 percent of eligible project costs.”

“Eligible” is the key word. Federal law states that only common-use and public areas of a terminal are eligible for the funding, Kenitzer said, limiting the total allowed to $20 million. And any development support is dependent on availability of funds, which varies from year to year, and what other projects may be happening in the country.

“One thing I don’t see any mention of is multi-modal ways to get from town to the airport,” said Durango Planning Commissioner Joe Lewandowski. “Maybe use some money in town to create parking and a shuttle service, rather than adding 1,000 new parking spaces.”

Several people questioned a forecast that shows continual growth in passenger enplanements.

“I’d like to see how they determined their numbers for their forecasts, how they’re justified, what factors they included,” said Barbara Jones, a part-time resident who travels frequently. “I love it – the airport the way it is. I’ve never had a problem, never been without a seat, when I’ve met my kids, who checked luggage, there’s hardly any waiting time for baggage.”

Many agreed that at the very least, some upgrades are needed.

“There are definitely some needed improvements,” said former Airport Commission member Doug Lashley. “But I think this new terminal would require a property tax increase and bond issue, and that may be a nonstarter.”

A new terminal complex might be more expensive than just the building costs, he said.

“Many communities have enlarged their airports and had to support them with taxpayer funds,” Lashley said. “The airport has paid its own way for a long time. I’d hate to have to support a more expensive facility with taxpayers’ money.”

For Jodi Doney, it’s time to bring the airport into the 21st century.

“It just seems old,” she said, “and I find myself standing in line a lot when I’m there. I want an option that doesn’t disrupt service while it’s being built. And it would be good to design it so if they do need future improvements, they can do them.”

Larry Tweedy lived in Denver during the process of planning and building Denver International Airport and remembers the furor.

“It turned out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to Denver,” he said. “Right now, we have a rinky-dink airport, and if we just add to it, it will be a rinky-dink airport with stuff added on to it.”

Lashley said it seemed the members selected to be on the advisory committee seemed to be weighted with people who were already in favor of the new terminal complex, including some who have some vested interest in seeing it built.

“I’d like to see some new opinion leaders as members,” he said. “We need to be thinking of other things we could do to improve functionality. If the county paved County Road 309A, for example, it would shave 10 minutes off the drive from Farmington.”

Lashley had another idea, semi-tongue-in-cheek, about his concerns regarding the financial aspects of the new airport-terminal complex alternative.

Maybe we should work with the (Southern Ute Indian) Tribe,” he said, “and put in an annex with a casino to help pay for it.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

This story has been updated to reflect new information from the FAA about funding that it might provide for the project.

To learn more

Resources are available to learn more about the proposed expansion alternatives for the Durango-La Plata County Airport and how to comment:

Visit www.flydurango.com to view the current Airport Master Plan and project-related documents.

Visit www.durangogov.org/virtualcityhall to take the survey about airport-expansion plans. The survey closes Oct. 31.

Sep 9, 2014
Polled residents favor airport improvements
Aug 2, 2014
Airport’s growing pains
Jun 13, 2014
Terminal options to be explored in airport master plan


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