City Council presented Municipal Airport Feasibility Study Update
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The Eagle Pass City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday,March 18, 2014 at Council Chambers, City Hall Building, 100 S. Monroe Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas, to hear a presentation on the future development of a municipal airport and an update on the Municipal Airport Feasibility Study by Roberto Gonzalez of RG Consultants and Al Groves of Groves and Associates.
Former Eagle Pass City Manager and Eagle Pass Water Works System General Manager Roberto Gonzalez began the municipal airport feasibility study report to City Council by stating “Several months ago, we came before you on an offer that the Winn Family had made to the City of Eagle Pass to donate their airstrip to the City as a possible municipal airport and for a feasibility study to be performed on that particular airstrip. We presented certain points that would benefit the City, but there had to be a feasibility study performed where there would be a need, where there would be a fundable project, and obviously we needed services whether that runaway could be used or what type of work needed to be done to resurface it. So, the Council saw fit to allow RG Consultants and Groves and Associates to move forward with that study. We in turn hired Victory and Associates to assist us and they did perform a study on the existing runaway and Victory and Associates did find that the existing runway was damaged and that the base of the existing runway would need to be completely redone. When the Winn family was notified of the findings, they did offer another piece of property inside the loop between the hospital and the EPISD Sports Complex.”
Gonzalez then stated that the Winn Family is now offering the alternate site due in part because the initial airstrip or runway offered to the City of Eagle Pass as a donation was inoperable due to the resurfacing required of that existing runway.
Gonzalez then presented City Council with a map of the new proposed land site being offered by the Winn Family to the City of Eagle Pass for use as a municipal airport.
Gonzalez then stated that there had been subsequent meetings with personnel from TXDOT and FAA to determine if the new property now being offered to the City would be suitable for the proposed municipal airport project. “Everyone was in accord,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez then stated that they then began to do more leg work by inquiring into the maquiladoras industry in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, holding meetings with the maquiladoras in Piedras Negras, and holding meetings with the business community in Eagle Pass, as well.
Gonzalez stated that an inquiry was done of the daily activity of the City of Uvalde, Texas municipal airport and that the inquiry was a positive outlook into the growing industry within United State-Mexico border communities as a great amount of the traffic flow is from Mexico. Gonzalez also provided details of the potential income available through the U.S. Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety, who use the available runways and hangars to house their aircraft at the Uvalde municipal airport.
Gonzalez also stated that at the present time the U.S. Border Patrol is constructing a $250,000 aircraft hangar at the Uvalde Municipal Airport.
Gonzalez then presented City Council a detailed package of the rules, policies and rates that the Uvalde Municipal Airport uses, charges, and operates under.
“Keep in mind the basic questions, which are is the Land being offered by the Winn’s a doable, fundable project? Is there a demand from the business community and not only from us in Eagle Pass but from around, the oil, maquiladora industry and any other type of industry that we can attract. Conclusively, you are going to see that all the answers in the inquest that we did, was yes,” said Gonzalez.
Al Groves of Groves and Associates then presented City Council with details pertaining to the inquiry conducted by Victory and Associates and the phases of the proposed project study.
Groves stated that he had been having conversations and visiting with TXDOT who has an aeronautical division which deals with municipal airports.
“We were trying to figure out on your map that was just an arbitrary phase one, where we can get a runway of four thousand feet because the number of traffic you can get is what determines the amount of funding for the next step. I would hope that this would just be a one phase and get the whole thing done at once, but if we need to break it up then we would do phase one being the runway, phase two would be a taxiway, phase three would be extending the runway to 6,000 feet. I’m thinking This 4,000 foot runway would have to go to 5,000 feet because you need 5,000 feet to get a big airplane in on the runway,” said Groves.
Groves then addressed the issue of possible funding and how actual percentages of funding increase in cases of an already functioning airport and decreasing funding opportunities for airports that are in its early stages of planning and construction. Groves did state that FAA does increase funding as an airport develops through certain phases, increasing its funding availability for the proposed municipal airport.
“ FAA will put more money in if they see an airport coming up and they see its doing what it’s supposed to be doing. They have said that Eagle Pass deserves to have a good municipal airport,” said Groves.
Groves did state that the land that is being offered by the Winn Family for donation is estimated to be worth about $3 to $4 million dollars. Groves also stated that TXDOT gives you credit for the land when working on the numbers when deciphering the value of the land being donated and used. “ You would be starting off with a good chunk of change in the amount of $3 to 4 million dollars based on the figures calculated,” added Groves. This figure is based on previous land sales in the designated area and the amount of acreage being offered up for donation.
Groves stated that the Winn Family are offering to donate approximately 211 acres to accommodate the proposed Eagle Pass municipal airport.
Also proposed in the municipal airport feasibility study was the extension of Bob Rodgers Drive that would extend to accommodate a roadway to and from the proposed airport site which would be handled through other grants for funding, either through TXDOT or EDA, that handle roadway and utility projects.
“ Keep in mind this is just a study . There are a lot of meetings that need to take place. The City and County need to meet regarding this,” added Gonzalez.
Gonzalez then emphasized that there was a lot of dialogue between agencies that needed to be addressed before even beginning to move forward with a project of such magnitude. “Is it a doable project, is it a fundable project, yes, but we have to sit down and work this thing out,” added Gonzalez.
Eagle Pass Mayor Ramsey E. Cantu then addressed City Council and the public in attendance. “ I know as far as the project is concerned, it is something that Council has been so animate about and I’m glad that our County Officials are at this meeting also. This was something that was asked of Council, to do a feasibility study because of the contribution that was given by the Winn Family. Now, with this in place and seeing the opportunity at hand, seeing the opportunities that the County has with their airport and the issues currently going on there, I think we need to sit down now and see what is in the best interest, and to come up with a solution that would be beneficial for the residents of Eagle Pass and Maverick County, Whether it be through each respective governing body, the City of Eagle Pass or Maverick County,” said Mayor Cantu.
Gonzalez then stated that TXDOT and FAA had requested a workshop type of meeting to sit down and meet with all the parties involved to offer better air service in Eagle Pass and Maverick County.
City Council members Gloria Hernandez and Mayor Pro Tem Luis Sifuentes then brought up certain issues and questions in regards to the feasibility study, such as sustainability, maintaining cost, amount of aircrafts needed to be housed to sustain, and the willingness of aircrafts to relocate or be housed in Eagle Pass.
Mayor Pro Tem Luis Sifuentes raised concerns and questioned the lack of details not provided in the presentation by RG Consultants and Groves and Associates on the certainty of sustainability, to ensure that a municipal airport does not become a financial detriment to the City of Eagle Pass and its taxpayers.
Maverick County officials were also present at the meeting to learn of the City’s plans to develop a municipal airport, which would compete with the County-owned Memorial International Airport at the Radar Base site approximately 12 miles north of the City of Eagle Pass. It was not discussed if the community can sustain two airports.
After further discussion into the municipal airport feasibility study presented by Gonzalez and Groves such as the pros and cons, beneficial aspects through community growth, and other concerns of City Council members and taxpayers can be addressed in the near future via meetings and inquiries raised on an on-going basis. City Council tabled the item pending further detailed meetings and inquiries from the municipal airport feasibility study approved and paid for by the City of Eagle Pass.
The City Council previously approved to pay Roberto Gonzalez and Al Groves the sum of $30,000 to conduct and complete the municipal airport feasibility study.
