By Sara Strong
The Luverne airport drew a crowd Monday as final plans were the subject of a public meeting in Luverne council chambers.
The airport expansion has been a long-time goal of the city of Luverne, meeting with objection from some of its rural neighbors.
Engineer plans are ready for the Airport Board to review and recommend to the Luverne City Council. From there, the Planning and Zoning Board will determine whether the expansion project will continue.
Federal funding of 90 percent for the $2 million project is secured for the expansion, which would almost double the length of the runway.
Luverne City Councilman David Hauge also serves on the Airport Board. He said, "Right now we have funding. … Luverne’s trying to make itself more hospitable to businesses and anything we can do to be more appealing in negotiations is an asset."
Even though businesses are a motivator to getting a bigger airport for bigger planes, Rock County Commissioner Ron Boyenga pointed out that the county’s biggest business is agriculture.
Part of the objection to the location of the airport is the closing of a township road just south of the current airport. The township road runs east and west and is reportedly used heavily as access to Highway 75 to the east and to farm area to the west.
People at Monday’s meeting said moving the airport even farther south would keep that road open and keep the airport farther from town and potential development areas.
The Airport Board reasoned that no matter where the runway is constructed, a gravel road will have to be closed. It’s just a matter of moving the problem to a different group of rural residents if it were moved farther to the south as Monday’s group favored.
If the airport were farther south, however, it would probably lose federal funding.
Federal funding is given to airports certain distances away from each other. With Sioux Falls, Rock Rapids, Pipestone and Worthington, Luverne’s current location is ideal for guaranteed federal funding.
"We’re trying to take care of as many people as we can," Pat Baustian, Airport Board Chairman, said.
The plans allow room for growth closer to the interstate.
Ray Sleiter attended the meeting. He said, "I don’t like how [the federal government] can dictate to people how the money will be spent. I don’t like it and I don’t think it’s fair. We’ve got people here who can spend money just fine."
Sleiter would like the county to be involved in setting the location, but realized the federal funding could be lost if the location was changed.
The township road
Other implications of closing the township road would be heavier wear and tear on the existing smaller roads. Farm equipment operators don’t necessarily want to drive across Highway 75, so traffic would probably be diverted to other township roads.
They may have to be widened or built up to some extent to handle the heavier use and likelihood of large vehicles meeting on the roads.
The township road is recommended to be closed with, or without, the runway extension.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has cited the airport for the liability to the township and the city the road poses.
If an accident were to happen between a plane and anything on that road, the township and city of Luverne would be held liable because at least three years of inspections have noted the clearance problem on the road.
Baustian said, "Even if we don’t do this, MnDOT will close the road anyway."
The Airport Board is also waiting for an environmental study that will find whether the airport is in the 100-year flood plain or just on the edge of it, as it now appears.
Airport facts to pull
Luverne’s airport was first built in 1959.
This year there has been 4,000 flights out of the airport.
The runway is the shortest in the state at 2,500 feet.
The runway condition is in the 70th percentile, meaning it’s structurally sound.