Milford City Council Votes 4-1 To Move Forward With Airport Study
Milford City Council Votes 4-1 To Move Forward With Airport Study
June 28, 2022Steve Schwaller
(Milford)– The Milford City Council Monday evening voted to move forward with a study that will likely determine the fate of the city’s airport. The vote to approve an Airport Commission recommendation for the study was not unanimous, though. Councilman Shane Hoffman cast the lone no vote…
“I think the biggest thing for me for the airport study is this is a community, countywide thing, and I just don’t feel like the city of Milford should be footing that whole bill. That’s one reason I voted against it.”
For now, though, Mayor Steve Anderson says the city of Milford will be going it alone…
“We’re hoping to go through this phase one to see some of the feasibilities and then we’ll go and talk with those communities and see if anybody wants to participate or not. We’re not saying they have to, but, you know, just looking at is there benefits for multiple communities to be involved with it and so. This first phase I think is supposed to take three to four months and then we’ll move into, we’ll look at it and evaluate it and go talk to those communities and then look at phase two.”
The first phase has a price tag of $12,000. Anderson explains what it will examine several things…
“Is there potential that some of the people that are flying in to the lakes instead of going to the area airports around us, is there some feasibility of those folks maybe coming to an airport that’s closer to the lakes so they don’t have to drive as far. As councilman Youngbluth brought up tonight, one of the things we’d be looking at also is the fixed wing ambulance service being able to get in a little bit safer and on a longer runway instead of having to drive to a neighboring county to go back and forth with ambulance crews and that type of stuff. So just some of the questions that the council has had; that the Airport Commission has had. You know, is it feasible to move it, what are some of the potential costs.”
The study will be performed by HDR Engineering of Des Moines. As we reported previously that firm has done similar studies elsewhere, including one that resulted in the construction of a new regional airport in Sioux county.
Meanwhile, the “Spirit of Okoboji” group has now presented a formal $1 million offer for the airport property to the city. Anderson says the City Attorney is reviewing it. Anderson says it likely will be presented to the council at their next regular meeting.
