Incomplete Airport Master Plan On Agenda; Time Critical Airport Documents Off
Planning phase of airport master plan stopped months ago and won't resume until boundary and management issues resolved
According to the agenda posted Friday, Red Lodge mayor Kristen Cogswell will be commenting on the Red Lodge Airport Master Plan (Plan) during the Red Lodge City Council meeting tomorrow. Notably missing from the agenda is Council discussion of the airport interlocal agreement currently under negotiation between the City Council, Carbon County and the Town of Bridger.
An executed agreement is necessary to re-establish Red Lodge’s contractual relationship with the Joint Airport Board which the mayor cancelled earlier this year. The County granted the City Council a three-month extension of the dissolution process in order to provide an opportunity for the City Council to deliver an alternate interlocal agreement that all parties can agree on. Another, and related, bone of contention is the definition of the airport boundary. The proposed airport boundary map, developed by a committee of Red Lodge residents, was presented at the last Council meeting by Bo Ewald and was discussed by City Council. As proposed, the map would return to the City sole control of all the land zoned for airport compatible use that is not absolutely necessary for airport operations. City Council stated its intention to have a first reading and vote on the ordinance codifying the map tomorrow night. The mayor put the airport boundary ordinance on the agenda for discussion but not for its first vote, jeopardizing the Council’s ability to meet the October 13 deadline.
The County Commissioners are waiting for Red Lodge to act. If there is no resolution by October 13, the existing board will continue to manage operations until disposition of the property.
“Notwithstanding termination, powers of the Board under this Agreement shall continue to the extent necessary to maintain and operate the airport until disposition under paragraph 10 of the property acquired under this Agreement.”
—2018 Airport Interlocal Agreement, Paragraph 9
Disposition is the division of property. The County has structures and equipment at the airport that the City will need to purchase or the County will need to remove. In addition, there is the value of infrastructure (such as the runway) to be determined, for which the County will need to be compensated for its portion. Red Lodge owns the land which is not part of the joint assets.
Even though the Council made clear to the mayor in their meetings that timing is of the essence and stressed that both the airport boundary ordinance and the interlocal agreement need to be on the September 26 agenda, neither one appear to be properly noticed. Both of these documents need to be approved by Council before October 13 or dissolution of the Joint Airport Board Agreement will proceed.
If the airport reverts to the City of Red Lodge, Carbon County will have no legal obligation to contribute financially to its operations. The commissioners, however, have indicated that they would feel a moral obligation to continue to contribute something to the Red Lodge Airport, but on a much lower scale.
The Town of Bridger would likely benefit if Red Lodge backs out of the Joint Airport Board. The County currently contributes to one mill per year to the two airports via the Joint Airport Board. Red Lodge often gets a larger percentage of the mill based on need. Bridger would likely receive a minimum of half a mill every year from the County to invest in its airport if Red Lodge didn’t participate.
It is unclear what information the mayor has gleaned and plans to share from the preliminary drafts of the Plan and the Airport Layout Plan. The latest and still incomplete draft of the Plan was issued in February 2023. The Plan has been stuck in its preliminary phase partially due to Cogswell’s challenge of the historic boundary and attempt to end a generations’ long and mutually beneficial relationship with Carbon County and the Town of Bridger. Much of the report’s narrative on existing use and exploration of future physical needs have been accomplished, but beyond some generalities, the actual “planning” part is unable to move forward until the boundaries and management of the airport are decided.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted the funds needed to go through the master plan process based on its understanding of Red Lodge Airport’s borders. The FAA keeps a land file on the airport. The FAA’s files show that the airport’s official boundary has included of all of the land zoned for airport and airport compatible use since the 1960s. The existing state of the Preliminary Airport Layout Plan and property boundary are based on the FAA documentation of the existing airport and conditions.
The purpose of the Plan “is to conduct an airport master planning study/update to determine the type of airport facilities that are appropriate for Red Lodge Airport (RED) based on current and forecasted aircraft activity. A primary goal of the master plan is to determine if the airport facilities identified can be implemented at the current airport location while meeting FAA standards and requirements, allowing the airport to be FAA eligible for grant funding assistance.” The FAA provides 90% grants for FAA eligible projects. FAA funds are generated by aviation fuel tax, passenger facility charges and similar aviation charges. Airports funding airports is how the program works.
No planning can take place until the boundaries and management are defined. Before the Plan can be finalized and submitted to the FAA both the City and the County will have to sign off on it.
The Joint Airport Board has been informed that if this attempt to reenter the FAA program fails, Red Lodge Airport will not get another chance.
The Red Lodge City Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. at Red Lodge City Hall located at 1 South Platt.