Eagle Pass City Council approves Municipal Airport Feasibility Study
By: Jose G. Landa
Copyright 2013
The City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Council approved to hire Roberto Gonzalez and Al Groves as consultants to conduct a municipal airport feasibility study at a cost not to exceed $30,000 at its special meeting held on Tuesday, September 17, 2013.
Former Eagle Pass City Manager and Eagle Pass Water Works & Sewer System Manager Roberto Gonzalez and former Eagle Pass Engineer Al Groves made a presentation to the City Council on the C. C. Winn Family’s interest in developing a municipal airport for the City of Eagle Pass as well as an industrial development on real property owned by them east of the Eagle Pass city limits near U.S. Highway 277 South. Gonzalez stated that “the Winn family through the efforts of Al Groves” have expressed an interest in developing the airport and industrial development on land they own and previously used to operate an airstrip. Gonzalez and Groves presented the City Council with a copy of a written proposal for their review.
Gonzalez told the City Council that now that there is the new loop, the Eagle Pass Independent School District Student Activity Center, the location of 27 maquiladoras in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and the growth of the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play both in Texas and Mexico, there are a lot of favorable things for developing a municipal airport for the community at the Winn Family real property. Gonzalez told the City Council that the first thing they need to decide is “if there is a need for an airport to better serve the city?” Gonzalez stated that “business aviation means jobs and economic development from the smallest town to the largest city.” Gonzalez stated that the purchase and sale of aircraft and aircraft parts directly benefits a community citing the City of Uvalde municipal airport provides airplane repair services and sale of airplane parts to many of the Eagle Ford Shale companies” airplanes and that the City of Cotulla is also planning of developing an airport.
Gonzalez then asked “Can we justify it as a municipality?” Gonzalez told the City Council that the Winn family has offered to donate the land on which their airstrip is located to the City of Eagle Pass for the development of a municipal airport. Gonzalez added that this land donation is important to the development of a municipal airport industrial development. Gonzalez stated that “this is a donation, but we as a municipality have to do everything else.” Gonzalez added that a feasibility study will study the costs and benefits of an airport to the community. Gonzalez told the City Council that we have to ask ourselves “If we are interested in such a project? Are we large enough? Are we futuristic in our views to man an airport at this point? Do we need an airport?” Gonzalez added that 80-90% of municipalities who have airports had an Airport Committee in planning their airport. Gonzalez suggested the City have an Airport Committee to assist and review every phase of planning an airport. Gonzalez introduced Al Groves to discuss an estimated cost analysis of an airport at the Winn family property and who has done some preliminary work on reviewing the airstrip and its conditions.
Al Groves told City Council that “this is an old landing strip out there and some of it is in very bad shape and about one-third of it has to be torn out and replaced. The existing landing strip is 64 feet in width which can accommodate planes with 9-10 passengers with flight crews. If you expand it by 11 feet to 75 feet in width, you can get planes up to 30-35 passengers which would be very helpful to the city. The Lighting is needed. The entire airport would need lighting. Entrance roads to the airport would be needed. The waterline has to be continued to the entrance of the airport. It looks like a preliminary budget for the project would be $10-12 million. The $10-12 million would pay for the terminal, roads, taxiways, and landing strip.”
Gonzalez then told City Council that the $10-12 million funding would come from grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Economic Development Administration. Gonzalez stated that during the feasibility study they would contact these three agencies about funding. Gonzalez stated that Mayor Ramsey English Cantu, Al Groves, himself and others had visited the City of Del Rio International Airport on Monday, September 16th to learn about that airport. Gonzalez queried who would be the users of an airport in Eagle Pass? Gonzalez stated that in Del Rio, 35% of users of the airport are maquiladoras in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico and Del Rio. Gonzalez added that there are many maquiladoras in Piedras Negras, Coahuila and in northern Coahuila such as in Sabinas who would use the airport, plus the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas companies, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, the Mexican oil company PEMEX, and the local population in Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras would use the airport.
Gonzalez told the City Council that the cost of doing a feasibility study of developing a municipal airport is estimated to cost $30,000. Gonzalez added that the feasibility study would take between 90-120 days to complete. “I think and feel that the opportunity for the City of Eagle Pass to develop a municipal airport in our feasibility study will show that we can make things happen,” said Gonzalez.
Mayor Ramsey English Cantu stated that “we are in a better position than Laredo was years ago. With the oil and gas play in the area and the Winn family have always been very generous to the City and the School District in building this type of partnerships because of their belief in the community. I do not think that we are going to have an opportunity like this one will come knocking on our door on a regular basis.” Mayor Pro-Tem Luis E. Sifuentes asked Gonzalez and Groves “Who would do the feasibility study? and Who would be on the committee?” Gonzalez answered that “the meat of the study will be myself, Al Groves , and all resources from Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras,” said Gonzalez. “We would meet with the committee which would be formed by the City Council,” added Gonzalez.
Mayor Cantu stated that the City Council would appoint an Airport Committee by resolution and that every City Council Member would have an opportunity to appoint a member to the Committee. Sifuentes then asked City Manager Gloria Barrientos what would be the source of funding for the feasibility study. Barrientos answered that City staff just attended a UTSA training on economic development and that there are currently some money in the Budge for a feasibility study and the City can do Budget amendments and seek grants to pay for the study.
City Councilman William “Billy” Davis stated that “I like the idea personally. We are sort of ahead of the game. With the water set-up we have, we are ahead.” Davis added “We should not pass this opportunity.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Luis E. Sifuentes made the motion to authorize the City Manager Gloria Barrientos to enter into an agreement with consultants Roberto Gonzalez and Al Groves to conduct a feasibility study and find the funding for the study and that the cost not exceed $30,000.
City Councilman William “Billy” Davis seconded the motion. Gonzalez told the City Council that “this is the best thing that can happen to the community.” The motion was approved 3-0 with Sifuentes, Davis, and Mayor Cantu in favor. Councilman Rudy Villalpando was absent. Present at the meeting was City Councilwoman-elect for Place 1 Gloria Hernandez but did not participate because she has not been sworn-in until September 23rd.
