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Runway to prosperity in Great Falls – Refurbished strip, land opportunities may lure more distribution businesses

A $29 million runway upgrade allowing planes to take off and land in virtually all weather conditions could boost the Great Falls airport as a potential site for a whole new set of businesses, development officials say.

By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040307/localnews/31064.html

When the project, which starts in 2006, is done, the Great Falls International Airport will boast the only Category III runway in the state. It’s a designation the distribution industry demands to ensure that products will make it to customers regardless of fog and other weather conditions that make it tough for planes to land or take off.

The airport already is host to a regional distribution hub for FedEx, a coup local officials worked diligently to make happen in the Electric City. The pending Category III status will push development possibilities to the next level, said Great Falls International Airport Director Cynthia Schultz.

"We want FedEx to expand Great Falls to an international hub, but they only do that at Category III airports," she said. "There are other businesses that don’t even look at locations without Cat III runways. Now we’ll be included on their lists."

The new runway, combined with other perks offered at the airport, is viewed as a centerpiece of efforts to attract gleaming warehouses, new distribution centers and manufacturers to the area. Those translate into jobs and a higher tax base.

"The airport has the opportunity to be a driver in economic development instead of simply an asset," said John Kramer, president of the Great Falls Development Authority.

Kramer has a laundry list of reasons to be optimistic.

# The airport is in the city limits with access to water and sewer systems, natural gas and electricity lines and fiber optics for Internet connection.

# It has seven, 10-acre lots available along the frontage road south of the regional jail and plenty of development sites close to the FedEx regional cargo hub building.

# Airport property is zoned for industrial development, eliminating bureaucratic hassles that plague other locations. Contractors can simply get a building permit and have a new facility finished in 60 to 90 days, Kramer said.

The GFDA officials plan to post architect’s sketches of would-be buildings at airport land sites on their Web page. The sleek-looking virtual facilities will be labeled "fast-track properties" to highlight quick building times.

# The airport also is poised to take advantage of a loophole allowing airport authorities to issue tax-exempt bonds with lower interest rates to construct buildings and lease them to private businesses. Potentially, the airport can build facilities to tenants’ specs, then lease the facilities to those tenants at attractive rates.

Because airports get a lot of federal aviation money, the caveat is such businesses need to have a reason to be located at an airport. Those reasons can include access to cargo distribution or warehousing needs.

The federal 1986 Tax Reform Act reduced the loophole for other government entities, including port authorities and cities.

"We have a tiny window here. It’s a very attractive window, and we hope it won’t be shut," Kramer said.

Dwight Holman, owner of Holman Aviation, says he doesn’t view the airport’s cheap leasing options as unfair competition from government on private business. When FedEx moved into its new sorting facility three and a half years ago, it moved out of one of Holman’s warehouses at the airport. Today he’s got two warehouses with access to runways for rent.

"A project such as what FedEx is in now isn’t feasible for me, but we were there and got business during the interim, during their growth," Holman said. "And now we get residual business. We’ve leased space at times to Matheson Postal Services, a private contractor that transports mail from FedEx planes down to the U.S. Postal Service sorting facilities."

Meanwhile, airport personnel are cleaning up paper trails so property titles can be handled quickly for buyers.

"There’s been a lot of government-to-government transfers over the years, and in some cases we’ve found old federal government deeds on property," Schultz said. "We don’t want those things to slow up development, so we are getting it cleared up."

All-weather runway

After an initial case of sticker shock, Great Falls pilot Marvin Hessler is warming to the plan for a $29 million runway overhaul.

"Initially, my impression was that not many aircraft will benefit from this very expensive project," said Hessler, who flies a four-seat Cessna 182 for pleasure and for his architecture business. "What I’m learning is that it appears there will be more benefit from this than I thought."

Beefing up the main runway to Category III status adds to the airport’s appeal, officials say — especially for industries that rely on quick shipping turnaround times, one target of recruiting efforts.

For instance, the Great Falls airport could handle something like a computer repair company, Kramer says. With the FedEx hub, broken parts could be shipped in, repaired and quickly returned to customers.

"I don’t really know all that status does, other than being a better runway," Kramer said. "The logistics businesses I talk to do, though. You can see it in their eyes when they realize our airport will be upgraded. It’s an important milestone."

Great Falls already has good flying weather. Still, there are days when fog or low clouds prohibit flight.

A Category III runway is equipped with technology that helps pilots land or take off when visibility is low. Planes with the right equipment can use Category III runways in visibility as low as 600 feet.

There are 80 Category III airports in the United States. The closest to Great Falls is in Spokane, Wash.

FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said Great Falls will be among the smallest airports in the nation to have Category III status.

"It’s not a super common thing for airports your size, but with the FedEx operations there, it makes sense to have an all-weather airport," Fergus said.

Planes in FedEx’s jet fleet, which include Boeing 727s and A 310 jets, are fitted with equipment needed to use Category III runway instruments. So are the jets Northwest Airlines flies in and out of Great Falls.

Ripping up the dip

Hessler, a member of a committee assembled to look at vehicle and aircraft movement at the airport, was surprised to find out smaller, regional jets also have Category III instruments on board. Such jets include those flown here by Horizon Air, SkyWest and some private businesses.

"I just didn’t realize these smaller aircraft were equipped to use that system," he said.

The runway equipment needed for the upgrade costs about $7 million and initially, that’s all airport officials hoped to do.

But then the Federal Aviation Administration, which will foot the bill with money from an airport trust fund set aside for infrastructure projects, decided an entire overhaul was needed.

There’s a sizeable, though gradual, dip near the end of the 2-mile runway. The dip isn’t the result of settling. It was built into the runway, which was started in the 1940s and added onto over the years, about 1,000 feet at a time.

The dip is big enough so if a car or small plane is parked in the bottom, it isn’t visible from aircraft at the other end of the runway. It creates what the FAA calls a "line-of-sight" problem.

The entire runway, including the dip, is visible from the airport’s FAA tower, which is staffed 24 hours a day. Safety risks are mitigated, since FAA personnel can see if there’s anything hidden in the dip when aircraft are taking off.

That won’t be the case however, once planes can take off and land with less visibility, so the FAA wants the dip removed.

The whole runway will be torn up and resurfaced to fit new drainage codes. Now the runway slopes 18 inches from east to west to facilitate drainage. New FAA standards call for a crown design, with the runway’s highest point in the center and slopes on each side to promote runoff.

The 2 miles of new concrete will cost $22 million, about $2,095 a foot.

Project contingencies

The runway project was to start this year, but the airport’s solicitation attracted just one bid — for $4 million more than anticipated — from United Materials of Great Falls. The construction contract will be put out for bid again in July 2005.

The two-year delay gives airport officials time to secure more federal trust money and to refine contingency plans with runway users.

The runway work is planned in phases over 170 days. Other existing runways will be used along with parts of the main runway to give pilots at least 5,700 feet of take-off and landing space during the project.

That’s plenty for smaller, regional jets and most private aircraft, but not enough for fully loaded cargo planes or larger passenger jets.

And it’s 2,200 feet short for what Montana Air National Guard’s F-16 fighter jets need for take off.

FedEx and Northwest officials say it’s too early to make alternative plans, but they aren’t worried.

"We are a global company and we work with airports worldwide, especially with upgrade issues," said Ed Koleman, FedEx spokesman. "We deal with contingency plans every day to make on-time deliveries."

The inconvenience of the Great Falls runway project will be worth the headache in the end, he said.

MANG jets will have to fly from somewhere else during the project. Alternatives include setting up temporary digs at the airport in Helena, or scheduling a deployment during the project, Maj. Tim Lincoln said.

Airport Director Schultz is working with the federal Military Airport Program to get Malmstrom Air Force Base’s closed runway transferred to the Great Falls Airport. If that works, the airport can lease the runway to MANG, avoiding the need for an out-of-town move.

Typically, MANG’s F-16s fly two to eight times, four days a week and complete one training mission a week. There are 340 full-time MANG employees and another 560 people who serve as reservists on drill weekends.

Though a move would be costly for MANG, Lincoln’s not complaining.

"We don’t need the upgrade, but we support the airport’s efforts," Lincoln said. "If the job market improves, that helps our recruiting base."

Hopes for development

Without a major new tenant, the theory that the airport’s assets are a viable economic development driver still is just that, a theory.

But it’s one receiving plenty of attention and resources.

Greg Smith, a Great Falls attorney, is the newest member of the airport’s board of director.

He sought nomination for Cascade County’s vacant seat because he says that’s the place to be to get involved and make a difference for Great Falls.

"This is a place where we can see opportunity," Smith said. "I’m a Great Falls native, and I’m concerned. I wanted to get involved because I think the airport is a segment of our public infrastructure that is really going to drive economic development."

Tom Workable sat in Smith’s seat on the airport authority board for six years, retiring a month ago. He owns a plane that he flies for pleasure.

Asked if the runway project is a good idea, Workable answered, "We’ve got to do it now. If we don’t, the price is just going up."

Will it pay off?

"It can, but we’ll never know unless we try," he said.

Black can be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (406) 791-6502.

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