By AnnieTintle
The Provo City Airport Master Plan, approved June 27th by the Airport Board, will be presented to the City Council on July 11.
Development of the airport plan has been in progress for over a year now.
“This is the first time a plan has ever been done in this kind of detail,” said Steve Gleason, airport manager.
Gleason said the Airport Master Plan provides guidelines and stipulations that should accommodate Provo for the next twenty years.
Concerns were raised about who will fund the future of the airport.
According to the airport committee which is made up of citizens and airport users appointed by the mayor, airport users and the Federal Aviation Administration will cover the cost.
Gleason said the goal isn’t to expand the airport, but to use the land already available in the most efficient way.
“The plan provides (land) for everything but long term parking,” Gleason said.
Still, some local residents are skeptical about the airport’s plans.
Melanie McCoard, a Provo resident, said she is concerned that the decision has already been made.
“I think it’s a done deal. I think the mayor wants an airport and its going to happen.” McCoard said.
She said she is concerned that the plan is not going to be what its supposed to be.
“The original need didn’t meet what was projected with the last plan,” McCoard said. “This is tax dollars being used to build an airport that’s not needed.”
McCoard said she is also concerned that it is corporate incentives, not city funding helping Provo become a Regional Airport.
“Normally the city has to build the airport,” McCoard said. “Million Air is helping Provo qualify for public money. I think they have worked out a real sweet deal.”
However, Richard Secrist, Provo’s community development director, thinks the plan will go over well.
“I think it’s a good thing, I think the city needs it,” Secrist said. “We’ve got to upgrade the airport for the community as a whole.”
Secrist said the growth is inevitable. He also said that BYU teams might eventually be able to fly out of Provo instead of Salt Lake.
