The Crookston Airport Commission met on Thursday at the Crookston Municipal Airport. The City of Crookston hired SEH to work on the airport master plan earlier this year and Melissa Underwood, a senior aviation planner, told the commission Thursday that SEH had completed a survey and was compiling the reports. Underwood said SEH would like to meet with the commission and stakeholders in January to go over those before forwarding the data to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said the meeting between the commission, SEH, and airport stakeholders would take place at City Hall in January. “They had a survey out where they contacted the people that use the services of the airport,” said Parnow. “With that information, they will compile a summary and present that to us at the meeting on January 16th. At that time, they will be accessing people that would stakeholders of the community, people that use the services of the airport, and gather info from those folks as we move forward in the master plan. Such as how we improve services whether it be increased capacity of hangers, increased service, any economic opportunities in the community to take advantage of that can be put into place. They work specifically as specialists with airport master plans and may be able to foresee things that we aren’t currently taking advantage of to help the community in the future.
The commission also received copies of the Airport Manager and Operations Contracts with Airport Manager Lowell Miller and Miller Aviation Services for review. Those contracts are due for renewal and Parnow said the commission will finalize those in January. “We took a look at the existing contracts with Miller Aviation Services and the management of the airport,” said Parnow. “We’ll take that under full consideration at our next meeting in January to act on at that time. But, looking at compensation, different services offered at the airport, and any adjustments we need to make going forward for the next three years.”
Miller also updated the commission that the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) was completing its flight program in December and there would be open hangar space as a result. Miller said he has a waitlist for the hangers and will contact people on the list noting that the list is old, and some have probably moved or made other arrangements since being placed on the list. Parnow said that while it’s unfortunate UMC will no longer have a program, it could provide for other opportunities at the airport. “It’s unfortunate there again, the University of Minnesota discontinued their program which did bring activity to the facility,” said Parnow. “Their program is winding down, so with that, some adjustments may be necessary. But then again, it might bring about some opportunity for other things to take place at the airport.”
The next Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for January 16 at 7:00 a.m. a City Hall, to be immediately followed by a report to airport stakeholders by SEH.
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