FW: Kalispell City Airport (9)
Fred A. Leistiko
Airport Manager
City of Kalispell
P.O. Box 1997
Kalispell, MT 59903
406-250-3065
From: Jeff Walla [mailto:Jwalla@stellinginc.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 4:20 PM
To: Fred Leistiko
Cc: Mitch Stelling; Jane Howington
Subject: Kalispell City Airport
Fred,
This email is follow up to our phone conversation yesterday to document
the items discussed in Stelling's office with Scott Davis. As I
mentioned on the phone, Scott Davis stopped in to our office and asked
if we could help him estimate the cost to construct a new airport. I
recognized Mr. Davis and immediately informed him of Stelling's
selection by the City as the new Engineer for Kalispell City Airport and
that I could not discuss anything specific to Kalispell City Airport
with him. We did have a casual conversation about general airport
design and FAA policies and a few items pertaining to the EA process.
The following is a summary of some of the items discussed:
- I indicated that new airport construction for GA facilities has
typically cost between $2.5 and $3.0 million;
- Construction cost for new airport would only include aviation
improvements (runway, taxiway, and apron) and not any costs for land,
engineering, environmental documentation, utilities, business
relocation, etc;
- The FAA won't fund the cost of relocating businesses from the existing
airport to a new site;
- Land would be additional as would any necessary utility extensions to
the site;
- EA process could include a re-evaluation of the site selection study
if things have changed and the FAA would support it;
- FAA will follow NEPA procedures to the letter on this project because
it is highly controversial;
- It will be City's decision to allow public in on EA scoping;
- Current EA scope includes effort to specifically coordinate with stake
holders;
I'm not sure if Mr. Davis stumbled into our office unaware of our role
with the City or if he was deceptively trying to uncover information
fully knowing our role here. Either way, our conversation was friendly
and very general throughout. Please feel free to call me and discuss
this matter further if you wish.
Thanks
Jeff Walla, PE
Stelling Engineers, Inc.
1372 Airport Road
Kalispell, MT 59901
PH: 406 755 8602
FX: 406 755 8710