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Show orp tt COURIER November 2, 1999 1 ae + = COUNTY m WASATCH _ Airport Mulls Expansion: Courier Staff For several years. now the. Federal . Aviation Administration (FAA) has wanted to improve the runway at Heber - charge City’s Airport from a B-2 to a C-2 classification. Since the county is currently — reviewing transportation plans for a bypass road that would pass through the to maintain According air- port. The thickness of the “asphalt is the primary factor that determines the weight limit of the runway. Currently, the Heber City Airport.does service some planes that exceed the. pass ok current weight limit. Dave McCoy, the my FAA will pay approximately 90 percent of the estimated $10 million it would take to expand the airport. The additional 10. percent would have to come from local sOUICES. ? Sta Glider outside a cave at Haier Airport. The airport sould like to aon and lengthen the runway to handle larger planes. but could take a direct approach instead. This might reduce the amount of time that planes spend in the air above the communities surrrounding the airport. . According to Heber City Mayor Lynn _ Adams, noise would not become much would build an entirely new runway and use the old. runway as a taxiway. If this happened, U.S. 189 would have to be moved further west. _ The only other way Heber City could -~widen its B-2 runway into a C-2 is if it relocated the hangers that were recently of a concern for the city since all new | built along the east side of the airport. business jets meet strict noise regula‘Since this would be a fairly expensive tions. McCoy says that the only time : proposition, it would be easier to build a. these jets are really noisy is when they new runway and relocate the current - switch their reversers on to slow them. path of U.S-189. down along the runway. Of course, this If a new runway is built; it widen’ actually be moved closer to Deer Creek Reservoir and further away from Heber. would only happen on ateae property and not in the air. Since it would also have a better land-. Instead of improving the current run- of U.S. 189° sont recent school tax increases, they are not planning to ask the citizens to pay for anything if they decide to expand the airport . Park City may be a possible revenue source since it may have an interest in supporting. a. small regional. airport. Another option might be to create an airport authority that would manage the airport likea business. The airport is currently owned by Heber _ City, but if it was turned into a separate — entity, it might be able to finance its inevitably take up land that is currently : own improvements through airport fees | used by the Heber Valley” Special and special taxes the law would allow — them ‘to impose. Unlike many other Service District for the discharge of sewage waste water, another way to dis- __ AIRPORT continued on page 11. : ’ a* aR one | eB hk a iki t 7 etek Y q ! j See i | m i h mann cst hs. eae ahrer ntf ing system, airplanes would no ‘longer ~. way, it is more likely that the FAA ‘Since any Aeeaion Since local politicians realize that citizens may not be inclined to support additional bonding, especially after the | Sah sate cial planes from landing at Heber’s to time. oS SS According to McCoy, a 40, 000. ‘ihe limit would still prevent most commer-- at the same mae addressed ase to follow a circle to land approach, - runway. its gpneateceshis airport farm aa existing the sewer the grass areas around er the airport’s possible expansion plans. Both: planning problems could be : A C-2 feet wider and 500 feet longer than the : of the water from farm too, this is an ideal time to consid- the runway would enable the airport to handle planes that weigh up to 40,000 _ pounds. These planes could also have longer wings and higher approach speeds. A C-2 runway would be only 25 be Since any new bypass road in Wasatch planes that 12,500 pounds. to cs weigh less than handle have county would probably affect the sewer According to Dave McCoy, the fixed base operator (FBO) for the Heber City can. only would runways and hangars. sidered at the same time. runway water - some area, it may also be advantageous for the airport to have its expansion plans con- Airport, a B-2 classification means this found. The airport may be able to use ere Sam Allen, Road ss a p y B | n it --— = oe “ ne iy -_ DISTIGUISHED LANDSCAPE DESIGN _ Landscape Design % Plant Selection and Sales % Consultation Ask about our winter pricing. Get ready for next year! ™% Planning for now—Planting for tomorrow 2580: Fast 1200 South » Heber City, Ur 84032 4 435-654-7129 |