County Commissioners now have six alternatives to consider in the reconstruction of the Ravalli County Airport.
But, the board is still leaning toward a smaller expansion plan. The Commissioners were originally given four alternatives to choose from as they consider ways to enlarge the airport to meet the area's growth.
But, they ended up amending two of the alternatives to better fit Ravalli County. During Monday's 3.5 hour long meeting, they asked the consultant to make more refinements to the two options.
Consultant Scott Bell with Morrison and Maierlie, Inc., stressed that Monday's meeting was only to present information about the two preferred ideas, and not for making a final decision.
"It's not full completion of our contract. We still have to finalize the environmental consequences depending...once we come up with the preferred alternative" Bell said during the meeting.
Commissioners did not make a decision and say they will wait for the consultant's cost estimates,which will come when he makes their requested changes to the two amended alternatives.
Additional information about the different expansion options are available by clicking here.
(from the archives) After about 30 years, the decision whether to expand the Ravalli County Airport is getting closer.
The main concerns over expanding the Hamilton airport are noise, cost and health problems resulting from air pollution.
The Ravalli County Commissioners say information from the public helped them fill in the blanks in being able to get closer to choosing an option.
They also said for the best decision to be made, there needs to be a compromise.
Some of the options would require the airport to be shut down for construction. Commissioners say they have to consider the safety for the Forest Service and to make sure they can land and take off to fight fires.
During a public comment session, many argued for option 2-A, while others argued for option 4.
"I didn't have to go to school to learn this: a longer runway is a safer runway," Ravalli County resident Doug McLaren said.
"We do support making the airport safer, but we don't think that includes lengthening the runway. We would suggest that the runway would be moved minimally to the east, if at all. And also we would go along with the idea of moving the runway north, towards the north as much as possible," Ravalli County resident Greg Raymond said.
"For 30 year people have kind of talked about it and looked at it, and it's time for actual decision-making. It's pretty exciting because it kind of like this...this is what we get paid for the big bucks, right?" Ravalli County Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll said.
The decision has not been made at this time, more information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.
(from the archives) Members of the Ravalli County Commission have not yet made a decision about the expansion plans for the Hamilton airport.
But commissioners do say that they established some guidelines for the engineers working on the project following a meeting which was held earlier this week.
They don't want the runway to be longer than 4,200 feet and they are also against the separation between the taxiway and the runway being more than 300 feet.
Commissioners told us that they expect the rewrite of the Environmental Assessment and hold another public hearing on the project by the end of the year.
(from July 20, 2009) A decision about whether or not to expand the Ravalli County Airport is getting closer after a nearly 30-year long debate.
A Monday meeting of the Ravalli County Commission focused on what the public wants, and what the commissioners need to do, so that the airport meets Federal Aviation Administration standards.
The main concerns voiced over expanding the Hamilton airport are noise, cost and health problems resulting from increased air pollution.
The Ravalli County Commissioners say that the information they've received from the public has helped them fill in the blanks in being able to get closer to choosing an option. They also say that in order for the best decision to be made there needs to be a compromise.
Some of the options being looked at would require the airport to be shut down for construction and commissioners say they have to consider the safety for the U.S. Forest Service, to make sure they can land and take off to fight forest fires.
During the public comment period, many residents argued for option 2A, while others argued for option 4.
"I didn't have to go to school to learn this, a longer runway is a safer runway" commented resident Doug McLaren.
"We do support making the airport safer, but we don't think that includes lengthening the runway" countered fellow Ravalli County resident Greg Raymond. "We would suggest that the runway would be moved minimally to the east, if at all. And also we would go along with the idea of moving the runway north, towards the north as much as possible."
"For 30 year people have kind of talked about it and looked at it, and it's time for actual decision-making. It's pretty exciting because...this is what we get paid for the big bucks, right?" added Ravalli County Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll.
Additional information about the different expansion options are available by clicking here.
(from the archives) The Ravalli County Commission is are getting closer on making a decision on the expansion of the county airport in Hamilton.
County commissioners say they held a number of meetings to hear all sides of the issue, adding that some people didn't like the idea of expanding the airport at first, but now they're starting to work together.
Commissioners were given four expansion options to look at and they say now they're leaning toward alternatives three and four.
Alternative Three calls for relocating the runway 240 feet to the east. A new 75 foot by 5,200 foot runway will be constructed 240 feet east and parallel to existing runway and it calls for converting and extending the present runway to a parallel taxiway once new runway is ready. The airport would stay open through the majority of runway the construction.
Alternative Four is also considered to be the preferred alternative is to relocate the runway 400 feet east. A new 75 foot by 5,200 foot runway would be constructed 400 feet east and parallel to existing runway. A conversion and extension of the present runway to a parallel taxiway once new runway is ready would also be performed.
The Ravalli County Commission told us that the Environmental Assessment will need to be tweaked to accommodate what they want to do in option three, in order to make sure the airport meets safety standards.
The proposed expansion is still open for public comment and commissioners say they want to make the decision on the expansion this year, because it has been an issue since the 1970s.
(from the archives) Ravalli County Commissioners are looking for the public's help in reaching a decision about the future of Hamilton's airport.
The commissioners have four options to look at to ensure that the Ravalli County Airport meets Federal Aviation Administration standards.
The FAA and other experts have already told commissioners and the public that the best option is to shift the main runway 400 feet to the east and 600 feet to the north. The plan also calls for lengthening the runway to 5,200 feet.
Commissioners say they will put up the pictures of the four plans on the third floor of the administrative building and are asking people to leave comments about the different plans, to better assist them in reaching a final decision.
(from February 5, 2009) The Ravalli County Commissioners have several different options when it comes to making a decision on a possible expansion of the Ravalli County Airport.
The commissioner and community members met this week to discuss those options with consultants and the FAA.
The purpose of the proposed development for the Ravalli County Airport is to meet FAA standards and to plan for the airport's future. To do this, the consultants, the FAA and other experts say the best option is to shift the main runway 400 feet to the east and 600 feet to the north. It also calls for lengthening the runway to 5,200.
"The runway length at 5,200 to support 100% of the general aviation fleet of aircraft 12,500 pounds and less," said Helena FAA Manager, Dave Stelling. "It is not to support large aircraft and it is not a releaver for Missoula."
A Final Draft of Environmental Assessment, or the EA, lays out four alternatives for Ravalli County Commissioners to look at.
Alternative 1 is to take no action. This means the runway will stay at its present length and location, and not developing areas for future aviation and growth.
Alternative 2 would be to relocate the runway 80 feet to the east. A New 75x5,200 ft. runway would be constructed 80 ft. east and parallel to the existing runway. The airport would be closed during construction in this option.
Alternative 3 involves relocating the runway 240 ft. to the east. A new 75x5,200 ft. runway would be constructed 240 feet east and parallel to the existing runway. They would also convert and extend the present runway to a parallel taxiway once the new runway is ready. The airport would stay open through majority of runway the construction.
Alternative 4, considered to be the preferred alternative, is to relocate the runway 400 ft. east. A new 75x5,200 ft. runway would be constructed 400 feet east and parallel to the existing runway. They would convert and extend present runway to a parallel taxiway once the new runway is ready. The airport would stay open through the runway construction time.
Options 2, 3, and 4 would all require land purchases.
"If you reject the EA and you decide to do the do nothing, then the airport is not meeting federal standards and it will jeopardize your receipt of federal assistance," said Morrison Maierle consultant, Scott Bell.
The FAA said there are many other alternatives they can discuss which were not included in the EA because they were not practical options.
For more information on the proposed expansion CLICK HERE.
(from February 5, 2009) The Ravalli County commissioners met on Wednesday to talk about the possibility of expanding the Ravalli County Airport in Hamilton.
The proposed expansion calls for shifting the main runway 400 feet to the east and 600 feet to the north and also would lengthen the runway to 5,200 feet.
Federal Aviation Administration officials have said if the county ends up buying land for the expansion, the county will be responsible for taking care of it.
Helena FAA Manager Dave Stelling also said they're open to other expansion suggestions because their main goal is safety and not to promote aviation.
"Probably infinite number of alternatives that could go between do nothing all the way out to 400 feet. Could it go out 240 feet? That's something we can discuss a little bit later."
The meeting focused only on questions and answers from the commissioners and the public to the FAA and the consultants.
There will be more discussion about the issue before a decision is made.
