Government & Politics  October 31, 2014

City councils to hear proposal for Fort Collins-Loveland Airport

LOVELAND — The city councils of Fort Collins and Loveland will meet Monday, Nov. 3, to hear a proposal on how to revitalize the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport.

The airport, co-owned by the two cities, hasn’t offered regularly scheduled commercial air service since October 2012 when Allegiant Airlines pulled out, citing the lack of a control tower for its decision to sever ties with the airport.

The proposal, created by a group of 26 business leaders, airport users, elected officials and staff from the two cities, recommends an amendment be made to the intergovernmental agreement between Fort Collins and Loveland, to create an airport commission that would have more power than the current steering committee in the areas of leasing, contracting and other obligations, according to the meeting’s agenda.

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The current steering committee is made of the mayors and city managers of Fort Collins and Loveland, and decisions pertaining to the airport’s operation must go before both city councils. The proposed structure of the commission would include the two mayors and two city managers, but would add three members from the community that would be selected by the city councils. The proposed commission would be able to act more swiftly on airport matters.

At the meeting, airport manager Jason Lion will present the proposed strategic plan, and city managers Darin Atteberry of Fort Collins and Bill Cahill of Loveland will talk about how the jointly owned airport could be governed.

The working group came up with five strategies that would affect the airport. It wants to protect against residential encroachment on the airport, create a sustainable business model with potential revenue streams and financing, encourage immediate private investment, rebrand the airport in addition to changing the governance structure.

Nine properties totaling 209 acres surrounding the airport have been identified as land that could be developed to be compatible with airport operations.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Airport Modular Building, 4900 Earhart Road in Loveland.

Members of the working group that came up with the proposal are Darin Atteberry, Mike Beckstead, Josh Birks, Curt Burgener, Bill Cahill, Tom Dwyer, Betsey Hale, Jay Hardy, Robert Hau, Jerry Helgeson, Annette Gilbert, Cecil Gutierrez, Stacy Johnson, Seonah Kendall, Jason Kopp Jason Licon, Martin Lind, Stu MacMillan, Deb Montgomery, Malachi O’Neill, Jim Parke, Troy Peterson, Curt Richardson, Rich Shannon, Ralph Trenary and KarenWeitkunat.

For more on the background on the airport and this process, click here.

 

LOVELAND — The city councils of Fort Collins and Loveland will meet Monday, Nov. 3, to hear a proposal on how to revitalize the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport.

The airport, co-owned by the two cities, hasn’t offered regularly scheduled commercial air service since October 2012 when Allegiant Airlines pulled out, citing the lack of a control tower for its decision to sever ties with the airport.

The proposal, created by a group of 26 business leaders, airport users, elected officials and staff from the two cities, recommends an amendment be made to the intergovernmental agreement between Fort Collins and Loveland, to create an…

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