Commissioners discuss next steps to create airport master plan

The BitterRoot Economic Development District, Inc (BREDD), the federally designated economic development district for Western Montana Region covering Ravalli, Mineral, and Missoula counties, was awarded $627,000 of grant money from a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to help communities in Montana create jobs and boost local economies.

Last Wednesday, Marcy Allen, executive director for BREDD, and Melissa Fisher, grant administrator, met with the county commissioners to discuss the $60,000 that would be channeled into creating essentially a master plan for the Mineral County Airport.

The money will be used to hire an individual who will essentially act as an ambassador/engineer for the airport. The hired individual will help to pull together all the documents relating to the airports and will attempt to act as a liaison between the county and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to figure out what can and can’t happen at the airport.

“We need to figure out what would look like a best case scenario for you,” Allan said. “From an economic development standpoint, that might be putting the airport into a position where it’s making money and that may mean businesses coming in.”

For years, the county has struggled with what they have been allowed to do out at the airport. Commissioners Clark Conrow and Duane Simons expressed their frustration at last week’s meeting.

“We had a business who wanted to set up out there, but they (FAA) said no. We need a definition of what we can and can’t do,” Simons said.

Simons went on to say that if they won’t be able to ever do anything out there, then the FAA might as well take the airport back.

Conrow disagreed about giving it back, arguing that it’s nice for the county to have an airport.

Allan said that as they move forward with the process, it shouldn’t be about turning no into yes.

“This isn’t about turning the no’s you’ve already received into yes, but figuring out what the yes’s are,” Allan said. “If we can find out what they are, we can build on that.”

Fisher went on to explain that this is where hiring the right individual to work closely with them on forming the airport’s master plan will come into play.

“We have to bring in the right applicant who will do the job right,” she expressed.

Simons agreed saying that it’s difficult when you don’t have an advocate helping you along.

Dennis Hildebrand also expressed that until current circumstances change, they can have “a lot of grand ideas” and still nothing will happen.

Allan stressed again that this is where they hope the liaison will be able to help.

“Once that master plan is developed, you’ll have it and be able to share it with the correct stakeholders,” Allan said.

Though the money from the current grant pays someone to pull the master plan together, Fisher said that once they have it, they’ll be able to use it to apply for other grants that are out there that might help them do some things that the plan suggests.

After listening to concerns, Allan went on to explain that the request for proposals (RFP) from potential engineers will end April 7. The applications received will then be reviewed and weeded through. Allan said that they don’t know how many they will get, but the commissioners decided that Allan and Fisher could go through and eliminate the ones that don’t meet the minimum qualifications.

Once the applications are in hand and those that don’t meet the qualifications are thrown out, a rating committee will score each of the applications based on a set of criteria. At the meeting, the commissioners discussed who they would want to sit on that committee. Simons noted that he would like to sit on the team and the commissioners suggested Steve Temple and Kevin Chamberlain as well. Tim Reed was also placed on the committee.

Allan said that once they have the list narrowed down to a few candidates, the commissioners can also choose whether or not to interview them in person as well. All three decided this would be something they would be interested in doing.

Fisher suggested that they would be able to make some more decisions once they knew how many applicants they received from the RFPs.

The grant project was initially looked at to show how the airport might pay for itself.

Allan expressed at the last meeting with the commissioners that she believes, from looking at other small county airports, there is potential out at the Mineral County Airport that could be capitalized on. Ultimately, the grant will help to show how to sustain the airport.

The scope of work for the grant includes three main points: project coordination, access existing documents and develop a needs assessment and business plan.

Under project coordination, current operations and future objectives for the airport and surrounding property would be researched. When developing the needs assessment and business plan, the existing and expansion opportunities at the airport and adjacent lands including zoning and current and proposed land use restrictions would be described. The work would evaluate the current method by which the airport board leases land for personally owned hangars and present alternatives. The scope of work under the grant would also analyze the five-year Capital Improvements Program and discuss changes that could boost economic activity at the airport.