As a grateful resident of La Plata County and a nonprofit executive, I strongly encourage citizens to vote yes for Ballot Initiative 1B, approving the new Durango-La Plata County Airport terminal expansion.
Our airport “cup” is literally running over. It’s not only cracked and leaking (unsafe), it also cannot handle the transportation pressure it’s been under since 2008.
Anyone who uses the airport has experienced the poor check-in ability, delayed flights and missed connections due to the terminal accommodating twice its capacity (several times each day). A single de-icing station, all there is room for, slows everyone down in the winter. The solution is to build a bigger terminal and facility on the east side of the runway that will not only solve our current issues but allow for future growth.
I administer the Western States School of Banking, which brings 50-80 bankers to Durango and Fort Lewis College each June as part of a program for community bankers. Attending students, instructors and board members have expressed concerns about the limits of our airport with regard to airline choices, costs, regional and customer services. My board may decide to move the school to a more accessible air-travel location in the future because of this issue.
I’m only one of many that are affected. In fact, there are about 1,900 jobs that our county could lose without an adequate airport in construction, manufacturing, health care, recreation, and oil and gas.
It’s time to expand our “cup” and take care of business – for everyone concerned. We can put this off and the expenses will go up, but the problem will not go away. Or we can choose to deal with this problem and work together to create a solution. People from many sectors have examined different aspects of how to make this happen, and I urge you to consider the intelligent strategies being offered.
Vote yes on Ballot Initiative 1B. We’ll benefit as a community and as forward-thinking adults by doing the responsible thing, now.
Gigi Baty
Durango
