Calvert City Council discusses airport possibilities

Col. Steve Parker, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Aviation, answers questions Monday at Calvert City Hall. Parker addressed the council on the possibility of the city assuming operational control of Kentucky Dam Village Airport.

Calvert City Council members are taking a look at the possibility of assuming operational responsibility of the Kentucky Dam State Park Airport upon completed upgrades.

Col. Steve Parker, commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Aviation, on Monday met with the council during a regularly-scheduled meeting at Calvert City Hall to discuss the potential in developing the airport and the risks involved. Parker, an advocate for development, said Federal Aviation Administration funding was available through the airport improvement program to offset costs of operation once the airport reached key benchmarks. The facility must meet safety standards, offer fuel and serve as the base for at least 10 planes.

According to the FAA, airports must meet requirements to be categorized into one of four classifications: Commercial service, cargo service, reliever or general aviation airports. To receive FAA improvement funding, airports in those categories must also be included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). General aviation airports comprise about 88 percent of all categorized facilities; airports meet this category if facilities are public-use and without scheduled service or fewer than 2,500 passenger boardings a year.

Meeting those benchmarks to be considered for funding – which totals about $150,000 per year – could be easily met with a little work at the Kentucky Dam field, Parker said.

“Because Kentucky Dam Village is not in that lowest category, they no longer get $150,000 a year of non-primary entitlements, non-primary meaning they’re a general aviation airport that does not have air carrier service,” Parker said. “So, once you get up to a certain level – you get 10 based aircraft and you get other activities going on – then you start again getting $150,000 from the FAA … and that’s an awesome thing.”

Improvements to get the airport to that point could be somewhat costly. Calvert City Mayor Lynn Jones said he and other city officials had met with pilots who use the facility regularly to identify airport when the initiative began several years ago. Jones said the No. 1 unmet need identified to him was fuel, a project which would cost about $800,000 according to FAA officials in Memphis. In addition to fuel, the airfield needs new safety fencing to keep wildlife such as turkeys and deer, abundant in the area, from the runway, and new hangars.

Jones said the city had taken on smaller issues to prepare the airport, such as an environmental assessment, and had a committed party to build hangars. The FAA in Memphis would construct fencing, he said, and the Kentucky Department of Aviation would commit to putting in the fuel. Parker said the state would also assist in completing a wildlife study and property map. However, it takes a commitment on the city’s end to assume control of the airport. Calvert City would need to establish an airport board and to hire a qualified director run day-to-day operations. Personnel must be trained and experienced in aviation fuel testing.

“Do you realize … the potential for that airport?” Parker said. “You could have fly-in breakfasts. The aero club could do all kinds of things. You could partner with the Department of Parks to have fly-in and stay packages. You could do all kinds of things. When I flew in here tonight and landed at your airport, I was telling the mayor before the meeting: I’ve been in 93 countries. I’ve been just about everywhere. I’ve been in places you can’t spell. You cannot find a more beautiful place on this planet than what I saw tonight when I landed at Kentucky Dam Village airport.”

Council members had a number of questions to consider, before the city moves forward with anything, however. Councilman Jeremy Rowe questioned why the state would be so willing to just hand control over on an facility with so much potential.

Parker said it comes down to manpower. The state owns 59 air facilities, with about 17 staff members at the Department of Aviation to oversee operations.

Cost to the city versus potential benefits were the focus of many concerns, however. While $150,000 per year would help go toward expenses, some worried it wouldn’t be enough.

“Can you run this airport on $150,000?” Councilman Gene Coburn asked. “If we said OK, we’re going to get a six-person board, can you run this airport on $150,000 a year, which is the current grant funding, right? You’ve got to accrue it and you get ready for the big stuff, and the airport board takes care of all that. Can this thing be run for that?

Parker said it was possible, though years would fluctuate. The city could bank funds for three to four years before having to spend, as well, which could also help with larger projects in years that required them.

“Some years you won’t need to spend your $150,000,” Parker said. “You may have two years in a row you won’t need to, but when you need a big project you go to what you have, and then you go to the FAA for additional funding help. Then you come to me or our department for additional funding help. We also do a lot of state only grants. … So there’s different funding sources. The answer is some years, yes, you can run it on $150,000; some years, no.”

Councilman Kevin Stokes questioned what would happen in the event that FAA yearly aid didn’t come through as planned.

“Say we do all this stuff, get the fencing and all this stuff, and we don’t get the $150,000 from the FAA,” Stokes said. “They don’t give that to us and Calvert City’s got this airport. What does this airport have to offer the average, everyday citizen of Calvert City that could care less if a plane ever lands there or not, and we can’t spend the money in Calvert City?”

Parker said airports, as a rule, serve as a magnet for economic development, which he said citizens who never even visit the airport will benefit from in the long run.

“Businesses who are looking to relocate or expand or something like that will troll around to see, if they’re interested in your community, they’re going to see if you have an airport,” Parker said. “How close is it? What’s the length of the runway? And if you don’t have one, they’ll go somewhere else. … We see it throughout the Commonwealth. What I find is that the average person thinks the airport is the rich guys’ flying club. … But mostly it’s economic development: Business, military training, private training, disaster relief, other things as well.”

Jones said he thought that if the plan was outlined correctly and followed through it would be a successful move for Calvert City.

“We need to set in motion what’s best for the city of Calvert, and move that forward as aggressively as we possibly can,” Jones said. “Taking the good and bad, because there would be good days and bad days, but if we set the plan correctly and set the course right, we can make it happen, and that’s what we have to do.”

The council took no further action Monday on the issue.

In other business, the council:

  • approved accepting municipal road aid funds from the Kentucky Department of Transportation for about $49,000; and
  • voted to disallow stand-alone bars in Calvert City limits.