Northern Colorado Regional Airport could host new customs facility

LOVELAND — Northern Colorado could soon be host to a new outpost from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission is set to vote on five action items at its meeting Thursday, with two major decisions set to take place. 

Following an initial proposal at the airport commission’s April 21 meeting, the commission will vote on whether to enter an agreement with Discovery Air to apply for a U.S. Customs program. The airport is working on securing assistance from local governments and discussing using American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The proposal includes the airport applying for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Reimbursable Services Program, which would fund the customs facility through a public-private partnership. Discovery Air has already invested in pre-construction of a facility with room for CBP, according to documents filed with the airport commission.

A chart included in the airport commission’s packet for its upcoming meeting estimates an annual cost of $200,000, or 13% of the airport’s operating budget, to operate the facility. Centennial Airport in Centennial pays $221,030 annually in custom fees, and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport at Broomfield pays $133,900, according to the packet.

The establishment of a customs office would create a foreign trade zone at the airport, according to the proposal. Increased fuel sales and attractiveness to international companies are also benefits that could come with the establishment of a customs office, documents say.

The airport commission is also set to vote on the creation of an infrastructure plan to enable future development at the airport site. A map included in the packet for the airport commission’s upcoming meeting indicates the airport has more than 170 acres available for development, with most of it being on the west side of the runway. 

The vote would decide which parcel of land the airport commission should focus on making shovel-ready. The recommendation included in the packet indicates a site directly north of existing runways would be a good candidate for preparing, with a focus on general aviation hangars. Hangars to be built at that location would replace T-hangars that would be displaced by a commercial jet hangar.

The Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission meets at 3:30 p.m. every third Thursday at 4900 Earhart Road in Loveland.

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