With the approval Monday by the Austin City Council of two firms for airport land acquisition, relocation and preliminary engineering Monday night, the airport expansion project is finally moving out of the discussion and approval stage into actual action.

Tuesday, November 02, 1999

With the approval Monday by the Austin City Council of two firms for airport land acquisition, relocation and preliminary engineering Monday night, the airport expansion project is finally moving out of the discussion and approval stage into actual action.

That’s possible because the FAA and the state finally approved the airport layout and the Environmental Assessment document.

"We got the final approvals in mid-September, but there was a 30-day notification period after that," city engineer Jon Erichson said. "This is the first council meeting since that period ended."

The proposed expansion centers around extending the existing runway to the south. In addition, the proposed project would include the construction of associated taxiways and aprons, the installation of associated navigational aids (that would allow landing in less than ideal weather), and the relocation of the existing terminal and adjacent hangar elsewhere on airport property. The expanded runway would also require an expanded safety zone, which would mean the acquisition by the city of Austin of 17 homes and 228 acres of farmland.

Burrwood addition resident Chris Hogan went to the council meeting, but left before the council vote on the contracts because he’d gotten the answers he wanted from Erichson and the acquisition firm before the meeting started. Hogan and his wife Mary own one of the 17 homes slated for destruction or removal when the expansion project starts.

"We just hope by the city hiring this firm there would be some communication about how far the project is and the timeline," Hogan said, "because we haven’t gotten much news up to now. Mary and I are in a kind of Catch 22 – we’re looking at other property, and the city said it wants to take ours, but we haven’t heard much about whether the project’s going ahead or not."

The only stumbling block according to Erichson, is the funding for the airport expansion. That funding is dependent on the approval of the U.S. Congress of the Airport Improvement Program. Earlier this year, Congressman Gil Gutknecht’s office said the Congressman expected approval of the bill by late October or early November.

In the meantime, both firms approved by the council will start laying the groundwork.

"Both firms will start working on different tasks – like site visits for environmental and land use research – which will leave the city in a position to acquire property in a timely manner once the funding is approved," Erichson said.

"No, I don’t even want to speculate when acquisition will begin – that’s totally dependent on funding from the state and federal government," he said.