Red Lodge Council's Second Affirmative Vote on Airport Ordinance Should Have Been Final, Mayor's Error Necessitates Another
Carbon County Joint Airport Board Agreement passes
At the end of a two and a half hour Red Lodge City Council meeting dominated by lame ducks Mayor Kristen Cogswell and Public Works Director Jim Bushnell, the Red Lodge Airport boundary map and interlocal Carbon County Joint Airport Board Agreement (Agreement) passed their next hurdle. Both passed on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Kris Keys dissenting on both issues. Last night was the second, and should have been the final, reading and vote defining the Airport, but Cogswell entered it on the agenda as a “first” reading, necessitating yet another second reading, discussion and vote before the Airport is finally defined and the master plan process can proceed. Timely public notice of first and second readings of an ordinance must be provided in order for that ordinance to be valid.
Cogswell and Bushnell spent considerable time voicing their opinions that the airport master plan should be completed before the City agrees to a boundary and claiming that, even though the master plan has been worked on for over a year, the City and public have not been involved.
FACT CHECK: The prudent gardener seeks to understand the climate, existing soil conditions, historic and surrounding uses as well as the dimensions, location, needs and any restrictions before deciding what to plant and where. The same is true when designing an airport master plan. The first step is to assemble all the information on the existing location and facilities. Only then can one begin to develop an informed plan to make the best use of the property and available resources.
That is where the process is now. It is true, Lance Bowser, P.E., Airports Group Manager for the engineering firm RPA, has been working for over a year gathering historical and current data and documentation, getting public input and exploring options for the Red Lodge Airport as well as acting as liaison between the Carbon County Joint Airport Board (Board) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He would like to provide to the public the design options available; however, just as the first step in planning a garden is marking its outline, so the first step in planning an airport is defining its boundary. Cogswell disputed the historic definition of the Red Lodge Airport (see yesterday’s article) when she claimed that the document currently controlling the Board, the 2018 interlocal Joint Airport Board agreement, defines the Red Lodge Airport as consisting of ONLY the hangar area, not the runway. While the City has spent the intervening eight or so months debating the definition of the Red Lodge Airport, Bowser and the Board have moved forward as much as they were able with the master plan process. With the passage of the Council’s second vote on the boundary definition, that months long obstruction should have been navigated and now in the past. Instead, Cogswell’s error will require another Council session to put this issue to rest which will finally allow the airport planning process to resume.
The claim that the City and public have not been involved and that proactive outreach from the Board and Bowser has not occurred is demonstrably false. The Board meetings where discussions and presentations have taken place are public meetings that are properly noticed. Bowser has made at least one presentation on the airport master plan to the City and provided his contact information so individuals can reach him directly with questions as well as offering to return to Red Lodge to address any group in person. He has virtually attended two City Planning meetings. He is currently organizing public meetings for the City, City Planning and County. He stated, “ I have been communicating with City Planning for a few months on best timing for meetings.”
Once Red Lodge has formally and legally agreed on a boundary that defines its airport, the design options can be fully explored and, with City and public engagement, a master plan can be developed that works for the City of Red Lodge and the larger Carbon County community, the community that provides the majority of funding for the Airport.
The new Agreement as proposed by the City of Red Lodge will now be offered to the County. The County may respond by accepting the Agreement as presented, rejecting the Agreement in full, or presenting a counteroffer. The Board next meets at 1:00 on December 19 at the Carbon County Administration Building, 17 West 11th Street in Red Lodge. The official second reading of the Airport Boundary Ordinance will occur at the next City Council meeting on November 28, if it is properly noticed.