Amid growing concern by west side residents over proposed improvements and expansions to the city airport, Kalispell will hold a public meeting Nov. 30 at the Hilton Garden Inn on the issue.
In a press conference this week, City Manager Jane Howington described the so-called “scoping session” as, “a way to begin a public conversation about the airport.”
For many Kalispell residents, however, the conversation over the city airport has been going for weeks, if not years. At issue is a proposed reconfiguration and potential lengthening of the runway, in addition to numerous improvements to everything from lighting to navigation systems at the airport. Supporters of the improvements, like City Airport Director Fred Leistiko, say the upgrades are necessary to keep the airport safe, and would add value to a city asset that hasn’t been improved since the 1960s.
In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to pay 95 percent of the costs associated with the upgrades, which has grown into a roughly $15-million project as land prices around the airport have risen.
But many Kalispell residents, led by a group calling itself the “Quiet Skies Committee,” fear the improvements will lead to increased air traffic over the densely populated downtown, and complain about the noise and safety hazards that will inevitably result. Criticism of the city’s plans ranges from those who agree with the improvement so long as it does not expand the runway to accommodate larger aircraft, to those who would like to see the airport moved someplace else entirely.
The airport scoping session represents an effort by Howington to engage more directly with the community, and address complaints that city officials can sometimes seem unresponsive to public concerns. After beginning work this summer, it is one of the first outward signs that she intends to alter how the city government operates. With an issue as sprawling and long-running as the city airport expansion, the new public process should prove an interesting demonstration of Howington’s methods.
At the upcoming meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m., the public can air their concerns and questions, as they have been doing for weeks at city council and planning board meetings. But at this session, Lex Blood, a former Flathead Valley Community College instructor, has volunteered to moderate the discussion to help citizens and city officials get a clear idea of what the top issues are regarding the airport – and to eventually cut through any existing misperceptions.
There will also be a presentation on the history of the airport and the effort to improve it going back to the 1990s, with discs available to the public containing past engineering studies. The city council will be present at the meeting, but only to listen, and the questions will be recorded. Then, some time next year a second session will be held in order to answer the public’s questions and address concerns.
“The ultimate goal is to have this information so the council can begin to dialogue with each other on how they feel we should be moving forward,” Howington said.
As for who will answer those questions, Howington said city officials would determine whether some type of outside expert must be brought in.
“There may be questions that are technical enough that we can’t provide impartial answers without contacting someone from a technical standpoint,” she said. “That’s part of why we are identifying the questions, so we can decide how we want to provide answers to them.”