20070516 Airport options face public by Jim Joyner

Airport options face public

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05/16/07 by Jim Joyner

To build or not to build ... or maybe to build a little or a lot.

Those are the questions being posed for the future of the Carroll County Regional Airport, and they are also the subject of a public hearing to be held next Wednesday, May 23, at 7 p.m. at Carroll Community College, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster.

The hearing will focus on a quartet of options for the airport -- from a no-build alternative to a plan that would expand and relocate the main runway some 375 feet to the west.

Early this month the Board of County Commissioners received a presentation as part of the airport's master plan review, compiled by the engineering firm URS.

The company has taken part in a study of the airport dating back to 2004, when the county formed a technical advisory committee and hosted a series of meetings.

At the May 1 presentation, the commissioners opted not to embrace any particular option, but set the stage for the public hearing.

Options being considered include (estimated costs in parenthesis):

*No Build -- which would keep the current runway, but would still require repairs and resurfacing that would close the runway for an estimated six months. ($8.7 million)

*Alternative 1 -- extending the existing runway to 300 feet, which would accommodate some, but not all, moderate-size aircraft. Doing this would also close the runway, for about seven months for construction. ($42.8 million)

*Alternative 2 -- relocating the runway 375 feet to the west, which would leave the existing runway available as a taxiway. This expansion would mean the county would have to acquire a nearby asphalt plant off Vision Way Drive, as well as the Arc of Carroll County facility on Krider's Church Road. ($59.3 million)

*Alternative 3 -- relocating the runway 250 feet to the west and 600 feet north. This shift would also require acquisition of the asphalt plant, but not the Arc of Carroll. ($56 million)

Officials say FAA user fee funds would pay for up to 95 percent of the "build" alternatives.

The master plan also includes provisions for new corporate hangars and other improvements.

Last month officials of the Sage Policy Group offered its own review of the airport expansion plan from an economic standpoint.

The Sage study said an expansion would bring an economic boost to the county, but acknowledged that noise, traffic and impact on neighbors would also be part of any expansion plan.

The Carroll Joint Neighborhood Association, a Westminster-based group that has opposed an expansion, reiterated that position after the Sage study, saying, "Allowing the airport to retain its current size would maintain the delicate balance which now exists between airport users and the quality of life of thousands of residents living north, south, east and west of the airport."

Both the URS presentation to the commissioners and the Sage Study are online at www.ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/default.asp.

The draft Regional Airport Master Plan is available for review at the Carroll County Regional Airport Terminal, 200 Airport Drive, Westminster; and at the county's Office of Performance Auditing and Special Projects, 225 N. Center St., Westminster.

It's also at all five Carroll County Public Library branches.

At the public hearing, speakers will be limited to three minutes, but written comments will be accepted prior to the hearing.

They may be addressed to Kathryn L. Rauschenberg, County Clerk, at 225 N. Center St., Westminster, MD 21157, or via e-mail to krauschenberg AT ccg.carr.org.

For more information, call Cindy Parr, chief of Administrative Services, at 410-386-2043.