The Allen County Airport is poised to receive a major upgrade thanks to $1.1 million in grant funding from the Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP), but not without stirring debate during Tuesday morning’s Allen County Commission meeting.
The funding, awarded through KAIP — a program funded by the bipartisan Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE) — supports improvements for general aviation airports.
The county will be responsible for contributing about 10%, or $116,000, in matching funds.
That stipulation sparked concerns for Commissioner David Lee, in particular.
THE GRANT covers two projects. The first involves grading and drainage work for the parallel taxiway extension, a $735,000 project.
Public Works Director Mitch Garner said, “They’re just going to grade it and do drainage and fill it up with dirt.”
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) will cover 95% of the design and 90% of the construction, totaling $664,500. Allen County will pay $70,500.
The second project involves reconstruction and realignment of the hangar taxilane, estimated at $455,000. KDOT’s grant will cover $409,500, leaving the county to pay $45,500.
Commissioner Lee was critical about the ongoing investment in the airport.
“One of the things that I hear very frequently is the airport is costing maybe more than it’s worth,” said Lee. “At some point, we’ve done everything we want to do.”
Garner defended the value of improving the airport through attracting grants.
“I think it’s a good airport out there,” he said. “The only reason we have what we have now is because of grants. We couldn’t have done that otherwise.”
Questioning the urgency of the projects, Lee asked, “The parallel taxiways, is that something that we need this year?”
Yes, said Garner, noting it will improve the safety of incoming and outgoing traffic.
“That’s a complaint we get from the pilots,” he explained. “They’ve got to taxi so far on the main runway that they can’t get off as quickly. If somebody else is trying to land, too, then they’ve got to taxi so much farther — they can’t just get off and come back in. I think we need this.”
Garner also said that since the county has already accepted the grant, “I think we have to do this,” he said.
