Minutes - Council - 06/26/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Case #7: Status of Airport Commission and Improvements at Gateway North Industrial Airport. Mr. Otto stated that this case consists of four parts. Mr. Otto stated that the first part of the discussion deals with a question raised at the Joint City Council and Airport Commission Meeting on June 6, 1990 regarding whether or not an economic benefit study had been done for the Anoka County Airport. Mr. Otto stated that Metropolitan Council has indicated that no economic benefit study had been done for the Anoka County Airport. Metro Council did indicate that economic impact studies had been done for Flying Cloud, St. Paul Downtown and regional impacts of Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airports. Positive economic benefits were indicated in each case. Mr. Otto also noted that an economic benefit study was done in the Airport Master Plan and the Environmental Assessment for Gateway North Industrial Airport. Mr. Otto stated that the second part of this case deals with a question raised pertaining to the extent of interest by Metro Council and MAC in financing improvements at Gateway Noah Industrial Airport. Mr. Otto stated that Metro Council is a policy making body for the region and does not fund those types of projects. He also talked with Metro Council Aviation Planner Mr. Chauncey Case, and they view Gateway North Industrial Airport as an option for meeting aviation demand in the region, particularly if Anoka County cannot be expanded and they have been prohibited from expanding by legislative action. Mr. Case also indicated that Metro Council involvement would be by way of making a stronger recommendation to MAC in terms of their participation and funding. Metro Council is also very interested in the level of City interest in the Gateway North Industrial Airport Project. Mr. Otto stated that he also talked with Mr. Fortman at MAC regarding their level of participation and their participation does not look good for the immediate future. MAC is concerned with the landfill and taking on another airport with a landfill located nearby. Councilmember Cich stated that the economic impact studies performed at the St. Paul Downtown facility, for instance, provide no comparison to the facility in Ramsey. Mr. Otto replied that he never meant to indicate that the City would use economic benefits studies performed at other airports as a benchmark for comparison with Gateway North Industrial Airport; he was only providing an answer to a question raised at the Joint Meeting on June 6, 1990 as to whether or not an economic benefit study had been done at the Anoka County facility. Mr. Otto stated that the best source of information with respect to economic benefit would be that study performed with the Airport Master Plan for Gateway North Industrial Airport. Councilmember Cich noted that Mr. Otto's case write-up included in the June 26th agenda indicates that MAC and Metro Council are supportive of bringing Gateway into public ownership and inquired if there's written documentation of that. Mr. Otto stated that there is written documentation supporting his comments that MAC and Metro Council are supportive of bringing Gateway into public ownership. Councilmember Cich inquired if improving Gateway Noah Industrial Airport would take the pressure off the Anoka County facility to expand. Mr. Otto replied that it would relieve Anoka County facility with respect to minor aircraft. Councilmember Cich stated that he has talked to members of the Blaine City Council and they have indicated the continuous problems associated with the airport being located in their community and those problems would be transferred to Ramsey if Gateway is improved and takes some of the air traffic from Anoka County. Mr. Otto replied that there are currently 120,000 to 160,000 City Council / June 26, 1990 Page 12 of 21