MoCo Airport Advisory Board - Craig/Moffat County Airport

[Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

MoCo Airport Advisory Board 
Craig Daily Press, CO

Wednesday, January 21, 2004 

The master plan for overhauling the Craig/Moffat
County Airport is almost ready for takeoff.

Jim Sirhall of the Airport Development Group presented
the master plan to the Moffat County Board of
Commissioners and the Airport Advisory Board during
meetings at the Moffat County Courthouse Tuesday. The
entire plan was six inches thick.

The two biggest renovations will be the addition of a
full-length parallel taxiway, and a runway extension
of 7,500 feet. More hangars, access taxiways, and auto
parking will be added.

The plan's estimated cost is $121,330. Thanks to new
changes in funding, the federal government will pay
for 95 percent of that. The remaining cost could be
covered by loans from the state.

The runway extension would enable larger planes to use
the airport, Sirhall said. However, the Airport
Advisory Board prioritized a parallel taxiway ahead of
an extended runway, Gena Hinkemeyer, assistant to the
commissioners, said.

A shorter runway will limit the amount of fuel a plane
can carry. Larger planes can always use nearby Yampa
Valley Regional Airport, Sirhall said. 

The runway and taxiway expansions will affect wetlands
near the airport, so the next item on Sirhall's agenda
is to run an environmental assessment and develop a
wetland mitigation plan. Then he intends to refine the
airport development schedule and work on the capital
improvement plan.

About 2,500 operations are performed at the airport
annually. One operation includes either taking off of
landing. That number has steadily declined since the
mid-1980s, when daily air freight and passenger
flights accounted for 25,000 operations annually.
Sirhall estimates the overhaul could increase airport
operations to 8,500 annually.

Additional improvements call for a security fence and
gates to be erected between the parking lot and
airfield to limit airside access. Sirhall recommended
fuel storage be upgraded, and mentioned the
possibility of industrial park development. 


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