(Anoka County) Another commuter airport expansion? (news article)
Dan Hoehn
November 18, 2008
Dozens of angry neighbors packed the Anoka County board room today, to
oppose a plan to expand the airfield in Blaine. An air services
company wants to add 1,000 feet to the airport's runway to make it a
center for corporate aviation. It's part of an overall strategy to use
the commuter airports in the Twin Cities for more traffic.
Blaine, Minn. — Blaine is probably best known for the soccer fields at
the National Sports Center, not as a corporate center. But an airport
expansion could draw more corporate jets.
The existing small airfield already sees some traffic. It's right next
to the Tournament Players Club golf course, and Medtronic has a huge
office center there.
Anoka County officials point out the hangars in Blaine were full up
for the Republican National Convention in September.
But the current runway, which is just under a mile long, makes the
Blaine airport difficult for the biggest corporate aircraft, like big
Gulfstreams, to take off under some conditions.
Anoka County Commissioner Scott LeDoux says a longer runway will make
the area more attractive to business traffic.
"Economic development in our county is important," LeDoux said.
"People flying in, CEOs flying in all the time, and they look at our
land, our vacant land. We need to develop that in industry."
Dozens of angry neighbors showed up at the county board meeting
opposed to the whole idea.
Some say they moved up to the northern suburbs to get away from the
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. They said they feel like
the problems from that airport are following them, and they want to
stop it.
But the Anoka County Regional Airport seems to be looking to the
future. It's already added an instrument landing system for all-
weather operations, added 1,000 feet to the old runway and partnered
with Key Air, an air services provider, to upgrade the airport.
The neighbors think yet another 1,000 feet will open the door to round-
the-clock air traffic, and even cargo services will take off and land
right over their rooftops.
Kevin Amundson is a Centerville resident who's not pleased at the
prospect of life next to a busy airport.
"I don't mind small airports. Centerville gets a lot of traffic. There
is a sea base on one of the lakes right next to us (with) a lot of
planes flying low. There is a lot of corporate jets coming out of the
Anoka County airport right now. I don't mind that," Amundson said. "I
would mind cargo jets, FedEx, UPS. Those are the ones that I'm not
wanting 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Even with additional runway length, the Anoka County Regional airport
can't take flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport.
That's because its runways aren't thick enough to handle a fully
loaded cargo jet, even if they were long enough.
But that extra 1,000 feet is important. It changes the Blaine
airport's status from what's called a minor use airport, to an
intermediate airport.
The other intermediate airport in the Twin Cities is Holman Field in
St. Paul, and that's home to 3M air traffic and the Minnesota National
Guard.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission has a stated goal to move as much
general aviation traffic, such as corporate flights, away from Twin
Cities International as possible.
It's part of a decision by the Metropolitan Airports Commission and
the state Legislature to keep Minnesota's main airport where it is.
That means takeoff and landing slots, taxiways and passenger space
will become more and more of a premium as time goes on. The battles
over air traffic and noise are increasingly going to be moving away
from the airport.
The debate in Anoka County is similar to an issue in downtown St.
Paul, where neighbors fought a dike project for years because they
feared it would make Holman Field more attractive as a business
aviation center, and there would be more and more traffic above the
homes in nearby neighborhoods.
The same goes for Flying Cloud airport in Eden Prairie, where runways
have been lengthened. The business community thinks it's a great
economic development tool, but the neighbors want peace and quiet.
As for the Anoka County project at the Blaine airport, a county board
committee needs to approve this idea for the project to go forward.
This time, Anoka County commissioners tabled the issue. They've
decided to get a little more input on the idea, and will hold a public
meeting about it at the Kingswood Church in Blaine on Dec. 2.