CAA: GA News, "Fed ruling clears way for Las Vegas airport to expand"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, January 10, 2002

Fed ruling clears way for airport to expand
Project was delayed more than two years
By Jeffrey Libby
THE LAS VEGAS (NV) SUN


A ruling by a federal appeals board has cleared the way for a $19
million expansion of the Henderson Executive Airport.

The long-delayed expansion of one runway and the construction of another
will open the general aviation reliever facility to small and mid-sized
corporate jets, enabling McCarran International Airport to accommodate
additional passenger jet service through 2011.

The Henderson project should go out to bid Friday, Clark County aviation
officials said.

The expansion of the runway, from 5,000 feet to 6,500 feet, was delayed
for more than two years after environmental groups protested a Bureau of
Land Management lease of 140 acres of federal land for the expansion,
which county officials say was important in keeping pace with the area's
growth. The North Las Vegas airport, which is also managed by the county
and includes two 5,000-foot runways, provides similar general aviation
service for the northern half of the valley.

"This expansion enables us to provide for the southern half of the Las
Vegas Valley the same high quality general aviation service for
recreational pilots and business corporate pilots as in the northern
half," Dennis Mewshaw, planning manager for Clark County's six airports,
said. But there were hurdles to clear.

An ad-hoc group of area residents led by Gary Freeman, who lives in
nearby Seven Hills, filed an appeal with the Interior Board of Land
Appeals in September 1999 seeking to prevent lease of the land. The IBLA
is an administrative board for the Department of the Interior that
settles disputes involving Bureau of Land Management leases and land
sales.

Freeman's group, the Las Vegas Valley Action Committee, argued that the
expanded airport would bring additional noise and cause other
environmental hazards, consequently harming property values and
residents' quality of life.

But Gail M. Frazier, an administrative judge for the federal board, on
December 19 upheld an environmental review that was completed by the
BLM.

In her 30-page decision, Frazier said the lease by the BLM of land for
"only a portion" of the expanded runways meant that any protest of the
airport expansion should be directed to the Federal Aviation
Administration, not the IBLA.

BLM and county aviation officials lauded the decision. Freeman did not
return calls Wednesday for comment.

"Public input is always a prerequisite," Phillip Guerrero, a BLM
spokesman, said, "But at the same time we need to make land available
for community growth, and we thought this was the right thing to do."

The county plans to break ground by April and complete the expansion of
the existing runway by August 2003, said Tom Donaldson, county manager
of general aviation at the Henderson and Jean airports.

The expansion project also includes construction of a new aircraft
parking ramp and utility improvements.

"The big guys are still going to fly into McCarran, hop in a limo and be
on the Strip in three minutes," Donaldson, said. "But this expansion
will give an alternative place to base corporate jets."

It will also be key in bringing other long-term plans -- including the
construction of a new air traffic control tower, main terminal,
maintenance buildings and a restaurant, closer to fruition, Donaldson
said.

With the expanded runway service at Henderson, take-offs and landings
should more than double in the next decade, from 77,000 operations in
2000 to more than 150,000 by 2010.

Said Chuck Herrmann, who runs a flight training school out of a trailer
at the Henderson airport, "The delay never really bothered us, but the
thing is, a better, improved airport will be better for everyone. It
won't revolutionize our business, but it will certainly help," he said.


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