Airport Master Plan, report findings presented to committee

COLUMBUS – The dean of the College of Engineering today presented the 2004 Airport Master Plan and the results of an Environmental Assessment (EA) conducted to determine the local impact of projects included in the plan to the Facilities Planning Committee of the University’s Board of Trustees. William A. Baeslack III also outlined the role of the Airport at Don Scott Field in the College’s academic programs and the benefits to the University.

Senior Vice President for Business and Finance William J. Shkurti told the committee that the plan should be evaluated in terms of how it is aligned with the University’s mission of teaching, research and service, including ensuring that the plan is based on reasonable need projections, rather than just the possibility for growth of the auxiliary enterprise. “A key part of the plan’s alignment is the academic plan for the Aviation program,” Shkurti said.

The key components of the draft 2004 Master Plan are new hangars on the south side the Airport and an extension of the north runway, projects that also had been approved as part of the 1990 Master Plan, Baeslack told committee members. Additional components include a new flight education center and a new terminal.

Replacing the current flight center that was built in the 1950s would mean new classrooms, aircraft flight simulators and testing centers which would enhance learning, while building a new terminal will improve services to both students and current business customers.
Extending the runway to 6,000 feet will improve safety, Baeslack said. The FAA sets the number of operations designed to use the current 5,000-foot runway at 500 yearly; the Airport currently has 2,000 operations. Also, removing the crosswind runway will improve ground movement as well as safety.

Baeslack said the Airport recently completed an Environmental Assessment (EA), including a noise study, on the impacts of the proposed projects. Through the EA, the University evaluated the proposals’ impacts on 21 environmental categories, including aircraft noise. The University conducted the EA and noise study with extensive involvement from representatives of the community surrounding the Airport, and in full compliance with the FAA.

While the study found that current noise levels are above what the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers acceptable near 31 homes in the Airport’s immediate vicinity, extending the runway would actually reduce noise levels, in those areas in particular as well as in others surrounding the Airport. Baeslack said Airport officials already are in discussions with the FAA about ways to reduce noise in those specific areas.

Under the future development scenarios, including what Baeslack called the “preferred scenario,” noise levels at homes, schools, churches or other buildings in the area does not exceed the maximum allowable as defined by the FAA and the Environmental Protection Agency. The “preferred scenario” includes the runway extension, new hangars on the south side of the Airport, the flight education center, and the new terminal.

Baeslack said the Airport is a “vital component in the overall success” of the Aviation Program. “This facility provides the students with a real-world learning-laboratory both within and outside the classroom. The Airport also serves as a lab for many aviation-related research initiatives undertaken by many departments within the College of Engineering.

“And the Airport provides cash and in-kind resources of nearly $650,000 a year to augment the Aviation Program’s academic and research efforts, thereby improving program excellence to maintain a position of prominence within aviation programs,” he said.

Shkurti said that today’s presentation is the beginning of the University Board of Trustees’ planning and review process of the Airport’s Master Plan. The proposed plan is an update of the last plan the Board adopted in 1990 and the FAA subsequently approved. “As was the case with that plan, the process for vetting this plan is deliberative and will be based on all the factors that need to be considered,” he said.

Those include the Aviation academic plan, the business plan to outline financial impacts, the noise analysis regarding the proposed runway extension, the impact of the plan on other University uses in the Don Scott area, and the FAA’s review of University land outside the Airport boundary, as well as the components of the plan itself.

In addition, both Baeslack and Shkurti emphasized the importance of appropriate involvement and input from surrounding communities. “This is not only an FAA requirement but, more importantly, a central tenet of University and Airport planning. The opportunity for comment and input does not end with the FAA-mandated process, and the University will provide for additional community and neighborhood input as we move forward with review,” Shkurti said.

Baeslack said community members will have several opportunities to comment on the plan and its proposals. The Airport Advisory Committee will meet from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 14 to discuss the results of the EA and the noise study, and a public workshop will follow from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. that day. A formal hearing with the FAA’s involvement is still being scheduled. All meetings will take place at the Airport.
In November, a presentation on the plan will be made to the Board’s Fiscal Affairs Committee. The plan submitted to the Board will reflect consideration of all the input received. The plan would then be considered by the full Board at its December meeting.