The Crookston Airport Commission held a meeting Thursday to review its progress on the master plan, the capital improvement program for the airport, and to hold an open house. The meeting was attended by several members of the Crookston City Council, Superintendent Jeremy Olson, and Polk County Planning and Zoning Administrator Jake Snyder, while attendance at the open house was sparse.
The finalized plan will be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for approval, which could take up to two years, before being presented for acceptance by the Crookston City Council. It is possible the plan could get its state and federal approval in phases as the City of Crookston progresses through its capital improvement plan.
Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said the commission is happy with the plan that has come together. “It’s not quite the final meeting but pretty close,” said Parnow. “We started the process back in April of 2019. The master plan was expected to last about two years. Looking at the projects and the future of the airport that we’re looking at now is very good. The members of the commission have done a great job of studying all of the proposals that have been put on the table. The different options of runway placement, direction, hangars, taxiways, increased safety, paving projects that may come about on the property to improve safety for the pilots. The plan is really, really good. We’re pretty happy with it.”
The first project on the capital improvement plan is to build a 10-plane t-hangar, but Parnow said all the projects are dependent on the available funding. “Depends on the funding that’s available from the FAA, MnDOT, and the cost-share they have different projects generally about 90 percent of a project,” said Parnow. “One of the first things to look at is adding another hangar. That funding is 90 to 10, so the community local funding is responsible for 10 percent. That would be one of the first projects along with some additional paving in front of the fuel tanks and existing maintenance hangar that would add to safety for pilots coming in and out of that area.”
Commission member and pilot Andy Gjerswold said he believes the plan addresses some current issues and lays out a path for growth. “I think the master plan addresses quite a few issues that we have at the airport right now,” said Gjerswold. “We definitely need some more parking space in front of the maintenance hangar and fuel tanks. I’ve been in a couple of traffic jams there before. And adding the t-hangars were looking at as our first project is huge. There isn’t a lot of airports in the area that you can go get a hangar to rent for your small airplane. The more airplanes that we can get based in Crookston is the more funding, the more economic impact for the city. I think a lot of the other future plans are going to shape our airport to accommodate bigger aircraft for, hopefully, some bigger business.”
The first t-hangar is planned to be built in 2024, as Parnow said there are some additional steps that will need to be completed before projects commence. “Keep in mind that one of the first projects is probably another t-hangar but that’s not going to happen in 2021,” said Parnow. “It takes a couple of years. You have to offer it out on bids to engineers again. So, it will be a year and a half, two years before something like that can take place. It’s not going to happen tomorrow but we’re going in the right direction.”
