Proposed airport southwest of Anderson, Indiana, permanently grounded: Annexation focused solely on economic development

February 24, 2013
 
By Stuart Hirsch The Herald Bulletin
 

ANDERSON, Ind. — They arrived in 2007 armed with a study, high-powered public relations professionals from the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA), and a plan.

A new airport.

The town of Fishers, led by former Town Council President Scott Faultless, wanted to close Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport — he still does — and Anderson Municipal Airport.

Fishers paid for the study by Aerofinity, an Indianapolis airport planning firm.

It determined that Metro Airport was limited because there was no room for expansion, the runways weren’t long enough and the facility couldn’t keep pace with growing air traffic.

The solution to those problems?

Build a “replacement” airport on 4,000 acres in southwest Madison County.

The land being eyed was in Green and Stony Creek townships bordered by Old Indiana 32 to the north, County Road 625 to the east, Indiana 38 to the south, and Indiana 13 to the west.

If those boundaries sound familiar, there’s a good reason.

The area encompasses some of the nearly 17 square miles Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith wants to annex southwest of the city’s current municipal limits as part of Anderson Fast Forward.

His goal is to stabilize Anderson’s population, shore up the city’s plummeting property tax base and secure an interstate corridor for economic development.

The airport sparked an intense public debate when first proposed.

Officials touted its economic benefits; Lapel area residents were overwhelmingly opposed to the idea. And it was a factor in the Anderson mayoral election when Democrat Kris Ockomon, an opponent, beat Republican Smith, who was open to study and public discussion of the proposal.

When Smith unveiled Anderson Fast Forward two weeks ago, many Lapel area residents packed Anderson City Hall to hear his presentation to the City Council, and waited patiently for a turn at the microphone to comment.

Several speakers accused the mayor of attempting to resurrect the plan — a charge he categorically denied — but few seemed to believe him.

And suspicions have persisted ever since.

At a special Lapel Town Council meeting on Thursday it remained a top-of-mind question.

“If you overlay the two maps, there are a lot of similarities,” Town Council President Gary Shuck said in response to audience comments.

Contacted at his law office earlier on Thursday, Faultless said he still wants to close Metropolitan.

But apart from calling Smith in 2011 and offering congratulations on winning a second term, he said he’s had no contact with anyone from Anderson about an airport in south Madison county since the matter died in 2009.

“We haven’t had any conversations on that topic,” Faultless said.

The most definitive statement comes from Indianapolis Airport Authority itself.

In a resolution adopted on Dec. 18, 2009, the authority said in part:

◆ “The Authority hereby finds and determines that Metropolitan Airport has and shall continue to fulfill its role as an urban general aviation reliever airport.”

◆ “The Authority declares that it has no intention to sell or otherwise dispose of Metropolitan Airport.”

◆ “The Authority will continue to operate, maintain and develop, as appropriate, Metropolitan Airport in a manner consistent with the recommendations of its 2009 Airport System Plan Update and to comply with the regulatory requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration.”

That resolution remains in effect to this day, said IAA Director of Corporate Communications Carlo Bertolini on Friday.

Source:   http://heraldbulletin.com