Council May Put Airport Board Dissolution On Hold Until End Of Year
Video of public and official comments and audio of entire meeting included below
Tuesday’s Red Lodge City Council meeting included discussions on the airport boundaries and master plan. Agenda items requested by Council in order to meet the October 13 airport board resolution of differences deadline were not on the agenda. Although Mayor Kristen Cogswell was scheduled to comment on the master plan during the Mayor’s Comments at the beginning of the meeting, she reserved her comments on the airport until the Council’s planned discussion of the airport boundary ordinance toward the end of the meeting. Alderman Terri Durbin attempted to obtain clarification and engage in discussion with Cogswell as Cogswell read her lengthy and poorly researched remarks, but Durbin was gavelled into silence. The end result was a Council vote to add an item to the October 10 meeting agenda that would postpone the dissolution of the existing Joint Airport Board until December 31.
During her comments, Cogswell claimed the flying club at the airport rents space for “an undisclosed amount”. In fact, the airport flying club has a decades old arrangement with the Joint Airport Board wherein it pays market rate ($0.105 per square foot) for two hangar spaces and gets one for free. The club leases the third space out to raise funds to help the club meet its goal of keeping flying affordable for the citizens of Red Lodge and Carbon County. Keeping the joy of flight available to everyone is also the reason the Joint Airport Board decided, and the City of Red Lodge and Carbon County ratified, to offer the three-for-two deal. The club provides an affordable way for locals to learn to fly and to enjoy flying. The City approved this lease arrangement just as it has approved all of the airport property leases as required by the interlocal agreement, with the exception of the recently contested parking lot lease.
CORRECTION (9-28-2023): Dick Nolan, Red Lodge Flying Club Treasurer, provided the following information:
The club pays for the entire square footage of its building, which includes a bathroom for the entire airport, an airport lounge for local and visiting pilots, and a third hangar space. The club rents the third hangar space to reduce its cost of operations and thus the monthly dues members pay and the hourly rates of the planes members fly.
Cogswell continues to insist the boundary of the airport includes only the hangar area, ignoring the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) documentation going back to 1961 and the City’s own Municipal Code which states in part:
In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter, there are hereby created and established certain zones which include all of the land lying beneath the approach surface, transitional surfaces, horizontal surface, and conical surfaces as they apply to the Red Lodge airport. Such zones are shown on the Red Lodge airport zoning map consisting of one sheet, prepared by HKM Associates, Billings, Montana, and dated October 1, 1976, which is attached to Ordinance 706 and made a part thereof.
Cogswell’s claim that the airport is expanding the hangar area was disputed by Alderman Jody Ronning who pointed out that the hangar area has not changed. Lance Bowser, RPA Airport Groups Manager and the consultant guiding the airport master planning process, confirms that the hangar area has not changed in size and the layout (as seen at the top of this article) that shows more hangars is a demonstration of how many hangars can fit in the same currently empty space safely if the space is used with maximum efficiency. He further went on to state, the City “had them zoned like city lots, but they aren’t housing. Hangars have specific fire codes and building permits that will allow for much more efficient use of space maximizing growth within the same designated hangar area.” The layout shows that four more hangars could be accommodated in addition to the ones already provided for by the City.
Nothing about the property controlled by the Joint Airport Board can change without the consent of both the City of Red Lodge and Carbon County. Steve Smith and Bo Ewald (Red Lodge residents, City of Red Lodge appointees to the Joint Airport Board, pilots and hangar owners) clarified in public comments that the airport master plan does not anticipate expanding the airport in any manner. Until the City decided it wanted to regain sole control over portions of the airport, the plan was for the airport to remain the same size with the same boundaries. The airport property will be smaller if Red Lodge claws back sole control of the perimeter land as proposed. The airport master plan is focused on making the airport safe and in compliance with FAA regulations in order to qualify for the FAA’s 90% grant program, which is needed to improve the runway. The master plan in its current state anticipates making the runway slightly shorter.
Cogswell claimed the City receives no revenue from the airport, ignoring the fact that hangar owners pay property taxes and that recreational pilots fly into the airport in order to access the businesses and amenities the city has to offer and profits from. The City benefits additionally by the emergency air services made possible by the airport.
It has been remarked that hangar owners only pay $0.105 per square foot to lease the land for their hangars. Even though the land is heavily restricted, on the surface that lease rate may seem low for industrial land. (See article on relative hangar lease rates around the state and answers to other airport questions here) That said, there are more reasons than the bottom line to lease public land. In fact, it can be argued that financial benefit is one of the least important considerations when making decisions about land that belongs to the citizens. For instance, there are sure to be very good reasons for the City to lease prime commercially zoned land on Broadway Avenue to a for-profit company for $0.177 per square foot. During the meeting, Cogswell mentioned that $8,000 is the amount the bowling alley pays to lease the land it sits on ($8,000/45,154 square foot parcel = $0.177 per square foot).
Below is video footage of the public comments and discussion of the airport boundary ordinance that occurred at the Red Lodge City Council meeting on September 26, 2023. The top video is the public comments portion of the meeting and the second is the discussion at the end. Following the videos is an audio recording of the entire meeting.
Below is an audio file of the entire Red Lodge City Council meeting of 26 September 2023. This may provide a better listening experience than the videos. Public comments begin at the 2:00 mark. Council discussion begins at the 24:05 mark.
Don Hardy wrote:
Our officious and rude Red Lodge mayor needs help appreciating our airport's history, efficiency, responsible management, and necessity. First, she blindsided the airport board, city council, and county commissioners by terminating the airport board without talking to anyone in advance. Why, was not stated, but clearly her primary focus is on the northeast corner of the airport, where helicopters perform emergency services such as forest fire containment and medical evacuation.
The airport board has prepared a map intended for FAA approval. One approved by all the local entities and the FAA involved could lead to FAA approval of funds to pay the majority of the amount needed to rebuild the runway, which is sorely needed. FAA approval seems unlikely if the area needed and currently used for emergency services is not included.
The mayor does not want the northeast section of the airport included in the plan. Why is anyone's guess. But since she told those present at a city council meeting that the area could be worth "tens of millions of dollars," one might reasonably infer that even though she denies it, she has its future development in mind, development that would not occur if the northeast section is included in the airport boundary map approved by the FAA. Whether she has been cahooting with unnamed entities desiring future use of that section of the airport is anyone's guess.
Her behavior is not consistent with the values of our community. With the Council's likely extension of a decision on her precipitous and bullying actions likely to be withheld until she is no longer mayor, we can all look forward to the day we are served by a mayor carrying out the functions of the office more respectfully, reasonably, and responsibly.