Allen County commissioners this week decided their hopes for the future outweigh concerns about annexing part of the county airport into the City of Iola.
They agreed to a deal that will connect the Allen County Regional Airport to Iola’s sewer system — with a few stipulations.
The county is offering an interlocal agreement that would annex 75 acres northwest of the airport in exchange for tapping into the city’s sewer system.
The goal is to develop infrastructure at the airport in hopes of creating an industrial park for future economic development. The county got a grant for nearly $3 million, with $1 million in matching funds for a total investment of $4 million. Most of the money will be used to improve water and sewer systems, as well as streets and other upgrades.
Iola’s sewer system is the closest and offers the most capacity, and thus the best opportunity, for future development.
But when the county looked into tapping into the system, commissioners learned city codes require voluntary annexation for any property that uses sewer services. The understanding is that those who use city services should contribute to maintenance by paying city property taxes.
Commissioners were reluctant to annex the airport the city.
That led to weeks of negotiations between the two governing bodies.
The City Council agreed to annex only the land that would become a future industrial park — just the 75 acres northwest of the runway — and leave the county with its property for airport functions, such as the runway, airport building and hangars.
Commissioners had a few other requests.
They want to wait to annex the property until after the infrastructure improvements are completed, which is expected to take about two years. They also want the city to be responsible for all maintenance of the sewer lines after that.
And, finally, they want the city to agree to share in whatever development costs may be needed as the industrial park takes shape. For example, if the airport industrial park won a grant that required matching funds, the county and city would share responsibility.
The Iola City Council still needs to review the county’s proposal and decide whether to accept those terms.
Mayor Steve French attended Tuesday’s commission meeting and said he was willing to work with the county. He pointed to advantages such as the city’s ability to do “in-kind” work for infrastructure improvements, and incentive programs such as the Neighborhood Revitalization Program that can offer tax breaks to entice companies to set up shop at the airport industrial park.
Even though the agreement still needs to be finalized, county commissioners hope the deal will allow engineers with BG Consultants to start working on a plan for the sewer improvements. The terms of the grant come with a deadline, and BG’s engineers will be under a tight timeline to complete the project.
Commissioners approved a plan to install 3-inch and 8-inch sewer pipes from the airport to the city’s system at a cost of $2.4 million.
That was BG’s original recommendation and is expected to offer the greatest flexibility for both immediate needs and future developments.
