Open house planned on Kalispell airport

Ån open house on the master plan study for Kalispell City Airport will be held Tuesday night.

Stelling Engineers will present the open house as an informational session for the public.

Stelling representative Jeff Walla said the purpose is to “bring transparency to the master plan process.”

Included will be exhibits about airplanes and airport designs. Information from a pilots’ survey will be presented. This will include how many pilots from a five- or six-county area use the airport and what types of aircraft they fly.

The Kalispell City Council approved the airport master plan update in July. The Federal Aviation Administration is paying $94,910 for the study. The city’s contribution is $4,890.

City Manager Jane Howington said the study is being conducted to identify the airport’s current needs.

Some 50 people showed up at the first open house in September. Many were concerned that the city will attempt to use the study to expand the airport on the city’s southern edge.

The original Airport Master Plan in 1999 recommended an upgrade of the airport to accommodate larger aircraft. It also recommended the runway be widened from 60 to 75 feet and be rotated 10 degrees to accommodate larger aircraft.

“We’re going to update the data,” Walla said in September. This will include establishing current development costs, accurate aviation forecasts, new alternatives or sites, representative aircraft that use the airport, and considering changes in the environment that might impact an alternative site.

The Airport Master Plan will describe short-, medium-, and long-term plans for the airport, Walla said. It also will include drawings as part of the Airport Layout Plan.

The plan will include a 20-year projected aviation forecast. The plan will take one-and-a-half to two years to produce. Two more open houses are slated for later this year.

Tuesday’s open house will be held at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

A regular council meeting will follow at 7 p.m.