Advisory board pushing city to buy hangar: Enid Woodring Regional Airport (KWDG), Oklahoma

ENID, Okla. — Enid Aviation Advisory Board is planning to recommend the city buy a hangar, despite a previous city commission decision against it.

Members of the board Monday said they felt the commission may take up the topic again more favorably if it comes before them again.

One member, Dr. Roy Camp, said the deal being offered by the Harold Hamm Trust might be better for a municipality to take than for a private owner because the payoff in leasing and rentals would take about 15 years to realize.

“But if you look at the business deals that are available to the city, what other building has the city ever built or bought that generated enough income to pay for itself?” Camp said. “This will. It will absolutely pay for itself.”

The 1980s-era hangar, which is the second-largest at Enid Woodring Regional Airport, would cost the city $335,000 under the previously declined deal. Some commissioners were reluctant to pay that amount.

The Aviation Advisory Board will circulate a letter among its members in an attempt to encourage the city to buy the property. If a private owner buys it, the hangar may only be used infrequently, but if the city owns it, Camp said, the airport likely would store more planes there, sell more fuel and possibly add more jobs.

“This may be the best business investment for a business the city’s ever done,” Camp told the board during a regular meeting Monday.

In other business, Airport Director Dan Ohnesorge reported the city is building a stormwater detention pond near the airfield that will direct excess rainwater from the north and east side of Woodring, detain it in a pond and prevent downstream flooding.

The work was prompted because of complaints from landowners to the south of the airport, Ohnesorge said.

The project being undertaken to lengthen one of Woodring’s runways is ongoing, he also reported. The city has acquired the land in the path of the extension, and a deal to acquire a 15-acre parcel to the southwest is nearing completion.

“They have the contract. I expect it won’t be an issue,” Ohnesorge said. “We’ve already verbally agreed on a price, so I’m expecting they’ll sign the contract this week.”

Southgate Road will have to be diverted to the south to make room for the expansion, and the preliminary work is nearly complete except for minor issues with gas lines the city didn’t know were there.

“We expect an engineering solution by the end of the week, and we’ll pursue with that,” he said.

The traveling Vietnam Wall by Woodring Wall of Honor still is expected to be dedicated Nov. 11. Ohnesorge said workers have finished the dirt work, and the wall will be painted and will receive a coating of sealant. There will be a brick-and-sand walkway along its face.

“We’re still trying to bring in some money for that, but I’m confident we’ll have a wall up and it will look good for Veterans Day,” he said.

The board also heard an update about the airport’s ground power unit, a generator that lets aircraft operate off battery while on the ground.

In the past, Ohnesorge said, Vance Air Force Base let civilian aircraft use it, but a new policy requires Woodring to purchase its own.

Source:   http://enidnews.com