The La Plata County Commissioners voted Tuesday to have staff proceed toward possible construction of a new airport terminal east of the runway at the Durango-La Plata County Airport.
Durango city councilors made the same decision last week.
This is to have airport consultant Jviation continue studying and refining cost projections for this option to meet current needs, and ways to pay for it.
The amount discussed so far is $85 million for a new 82,000 square foot terminal, access road, parking area with 1,500 spaces, four loading gates, and one overnight plane space.
County Manager Joe Kerby said the intent is to have more defined costs and funding options by June 15.
County Commissioner Julie Westendorff said a common theme of public comments at seven city or county meetings since Feb. 10 "was that the current airport isn't adequate. It was built to accommodate about half the people that are now using it."
It's realistic to expect airport traffic to grow even if a specific annual growth percentage is debatable, she said.
"I've met no one involved with the airport who thinks it's a good idea to remodel what we've got," she said. There isn't room to accommodate future growth west of the runway, but there is on the east side.
"This is just the next step to get better numbers," Westendorff said.
Commissioner Gwen Lachelt added that the question is how to serve airport needs for 25 years and beyond, that a new terminal on the east side, built initially to meet current needs, is the best way to do that.
At the county's March 3 community forum on this, some comments questioned a proposal to seek voter approval for a property tax increase to pay part of the $85 million, given pending utility rate increases or assorted other tax increase requests that could go to voters this year or next.
Lachelt said, "I hope the recommendation today can serve as the beginning of a conversation about the services government provides, and how we pay for those services."
On March 18, Airport Director of Aviation Kip Turner gave presentations to the Bayfield and Ignacio town boards.
In Ignacio, he reiterated that once a new terminal and related improvements are built on the east side of the runway, the airport can self-fund future improvements. The terminal itself will be cheaper than the other two options - to update and expand the existing terminal or build a new terminal just north of the old one.
"The FAA typically doesn't do terminal projects, but they said they would be open to working with us, $35 to $40 million with a one-to-one (local) match," Turner said. This is to meet current needs, not needs in 10 or 20 years. "We see a lot of casino traffic at the airport," he said.
"We think $5,000 to $6,000 (of the local match) could be from passenger facility charges," he said. The issue will be how to raise the rest of the local share.
Ignacio trustee Alison deKay asked, "Have you looked at anything besides property taxes?"
Yes, Turner said. "That's just the initial discussion."
He invited trustees and anyone else interested to come to an airport behind-the-scenes tour, offered the first Thursday each month.
"The airport is a $300 million a year economic generator for the community," Turner said. "If we don't meet the needs, my concern is we will lose service, and that will affect everyone. It's the fifth busiest airport in the state and growing."
He said Frontier's withdrawal of seasonal service hasn't hurt the airport, because American and United have more than made up the difference. "We are talking to new carriers, trying to get new routes, such as to Houston. If they came in today, it would be really tough to accommodate those."
