(Spencer)– The Spencer Airport Commission Monday heard a report on an airport feasibility study for the Iowa Great Lakes. The 30-thousand dollar study was commissioned by the cities of Milford and Spirit Lake and will address the future of those two airports. The Department of Transportation is picking up 90 percent of the cost.
Terry Lutz of McClure Engineering, the firm conducting the study, said it will consist of a survey of the public, chamber of commerce and users of the airports. He says the study will be conducted over the next couple of months. It will also look at possible options…such as closing one or both of the facilities and building a new one; or closing both facilities and merge with the Iowa Great Lakes Regional Airport in Spencer.
In the event the study determines it’s feasible and the issue of a new airport is pursued further, Lutz says a master plan would be completed.
Lutz added that airports can be governed by one of several methods…including an authority that would have a taxing power. Lutz says that option has already been ruled out…even before the study is complete. He says such a proposal simply wouldn’t fly right now with taxpayers. Officials say a similar proposal doomed a similar study about 12 years ago.
