Compiled by Neal McNamara and Steve Dick
In August, a company called Aerofinity prepared for Anderson’s Flagship Enterprise Center a feasibility study for a “replacement” airport in the southern portion of Madison County. The feasibility study, paid for by the town of Fishers, examines the possibility of the development of a new airport to replace the existing Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers and Anderson Municipal Airport.
The issue of the proposed airport has raised citizen voices of opposition among those who live in the area that the feasibility study targeted. It also played a role in the Anderson mayoral election, where challenger Kris Ockomon, who strongly opposed the airport, defeated incumbent Kevin Smith, who had spoken in favor of the study.
A subsequent editorial in The Herald Bulletin admonishing Ockomon for calling the airport “a dead issue” triggered an avalanche of letters to the editor. Most spoke strongly in opposition to the proposed airport.
The following series of questions and answers seeks to clarify why the feasibility study was done, what the proposed airport would be like and what its effect on nearby residents, existing airports and economic development would be.
Questions and Answers compiled by Neal McNamara and Steve Dick
of The Herald Bulletin
1. Is the proposed airport a dead issue?
For mayor-elect Kris Ockomon, the issue of a proposed airport in southern Madison County is dead for the City of Anderson.
“As far as the city is concerned, we don’t want to entertain or support the idea,” he said.
But that does not negate the possibility that another community may decide that an airport in southern Madison County is a good idea.
In fact, according to a source close to the proposed airport, more studies on the area will be conducted in 2008, including one assessing economic development possibilities.
Bordering communities, such as Pendleton or Lapel, could annex the land, which is located partly in Green Township and partly in Stony Creek Township. If a town annexed the land, town officials could then decide whether to build the airport.
Pendleton Town Council President Don Henderson says that he’s “undecided” on the issue. The town council, he said, cannot alone decide the airport issue.
“We’ve not taken a position on it at all,” said Henderson. “It’s really what I consider one of those issues that you can build a case on either side.”
Scott Tischler, president of the Madison County Council, said that the council has not been contacted about the airport. Further, he said, he does not know whether the council has any authority over approving an airport.
“If something is done in the unincorporated area of the county, I’m sure the council can be brought into the issue,” said Tischler. “I know very little about (the airport) at all.”
Ockomon says that there’s a lot of “political interest” in creating the airport.
“There’s a behind-the-scenes motivation for investment down there,” he said. “That’s not something that we want to entertain.”
2. Who has the power to make the airport happen?
Madison County, the body that governs the area being studied for the proposed airport, would have to develop a master plan for the airport and turn it over to the Federal Aviation Administration to receive federal funding.
Or, if Anderson or another municipality annexed the land, it could follow the same procedure.
The FAA has no involvement yet, said spokesman Tony Molinaro of the FAA’s Des Plaines, Ill., office. The FAA hasn’t been presented a plan for the airport.
“In this case, we are aware of the discussions going on, but nothing has been formally given to us,” he said.
If the FAA were presented with a master plan, said Molinaro, it would look at issues of air space, other area airports and possible environmental issues. In fact, a government body has to approach the FAA only when it is seeking federal money, or when there is the issue of air space or the closing of another airport.
“But for the most part, with big projects like this, they’re asking for federal dollars,” he said.
The proposed site for the airport is zoned agricultural. But Jerry Bridges, head of the Madison County Council of Governments, said that spot zoning could change the area to an airport, or even residential, zone. Currently, the Madison County Board of Zoning Appeals recommends zoning changes that are ultimately approved by the commissioners.
The airport is just an idea at this point, several sources have said, and it would take many years, plus cooperative local governments, to make it a reality.
At this point, the airport remains just an outline on an aerial photograph of southern Madison County farmland.
3. What has outgoing Mayor Kevin Smith said about the airport?
Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith, whose term in office ends Monday, said during the campaign leading up to the November election that he never supported the airport, but supported studying the feasibility and possible benefits of it.
But he told The Herald Bulletin last May that the city had been in talks about the airport for the previous six months. Smith said at the time that Anderson had to be seen as part of Fishers-Noblesville growth. “An airport (in southwest Madison County) could add to economic development,” Smith said in May.
The question that was never answered, said Smith, was whether the airport would actually be an economic benefit for the city and the county.
“It’s healthy for a community to examine options that could have some economic benefit,” said Smith.
4. Who would fund the proposed airport?
Aerofinity’s feasibility study states, “If both airport sponsors (Anderson Municipal and Indianapolis Metro) decide to replace the existing airports with one replacement airport, the primary mechanism for funding the replacement facility is expected to be from the proceeds of disposal of the existing facilities.”
Tony Molinaro of the FAA said it might not be that easy because both airports probably at one time or other used federal funds for airport improvements. The feds would have a say in how the airports were disposed of, to protect federal taxpayers.
Molinaro said the FAA would have to conduct a study to see whether a new airport would be worth federal tax money. He did say the counties and municipalities could fund a new airport if they chose to.
5. Who’s driving the project?
The town of Fishers. And, up until a few months ago, Anderson Councilman Art Pepelea, R-District 5.
First, Fishers wanted to replace its Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport. Second, it didn’t have adequate land. So Fishers officials went looking somewhere else.
According to the feasibility study, conducted by Aerofinity in Indianapolis, limitations at the Fishers facility include no area for expansion, inadequate runway length and inability to keep up with increased air traffic.
Fishers first approached Noblesville, which denied the request because Noblesville already has Mount Comfort airport. After that, Pepelea picked up the idea, he says, for two reasons:
“My late friend, Bill Shearer, he was a pilot and president of the board of aviation commissioners,” said Pepelea. “All he talked about was that an airport needed to be put in the southern part of Madison County.
“If it’s not an airport, it’s going to be something else.”
Pepelea pursued the airport not as an Anderson city councilman, he said, but as an interested private citizen. He says he gave up pursuing the airport several months ago. But others, such as the town of Fishers, are still interested in keeping the proposed airport active.
Despite Ockomon’s “dead-issue” comment, a source close to the matter says Fishers is still looking at southwest Madison County to move its airport.
Fishers town councilman Scott Faultless, who has been close to the airport issue, could not be reached for comment.
6. What is Anderson’s role?
Unless Anderson annexes the land proposed for the airport, the city has no role.
The land studied for the airport lies in Green and Stony Creek townships — unincorporated land. Anderson does not have any control over that land.
For example, when Nestlé announced its intention to build a manufacturing facility near the Flagship Enterprise Center, Anderson annexed land from Pendleton so that the plant would lie in its territory. But the current administration has no interest in annexing land in Green or Stony Creek townships.
Incoming Mayor Kris Ockomon says that land annexation is out of the question. He claims that he’s inheriting a “budget crisis” from the outgoing administration. And further, he’s adamant about restoring and building up the Anderson Municipal Airport.
If Anderson were to annex the land, then city government would have control over airport decisions.
As it turns out, Indianapolis’ change of administrations could have a bearing on the airport.
“It is unlikely that anything is going to move forward, if at all, until the new Indy mayor considers his position vis-a-vis the relocation of Metro Airport in Hamilton County to a new facility,” wrote Fishers town attorney Doug Church in an e-mail. “When and if that decision is made, then there may be some movement.”
As of now, Church noted, Indianapolis Mayor-elect Greg Ballard has said nothing on the issue.
7. Would the Anderson Board of Aviation Commissioners have any authority if the proposed airport comes to fruition?
Yes, but mostly no.
Again, it’s a borders issue. The Board of Aviation Commissioners has authority over only airports that lie within the city. And if the city doesn’t annex the land proposed for the airport, then the aviation commissioners have no control.
“The whole idea was to annex the proposed property (in Green and Stony Creek townships) and build an airport,” says Ockomon.
If the airport were to be built — a project that could take up to 10 years, according to the feasibility study — the aviation board would have to put its stamp on it because the new airport’s air space would encroach on that of the current airport.
The aviation commissioners are appointed by the Anderson mayor. Ockomon says that there is one member of the board whose term is nearly expired. Other board members will be appointed after terms expire, Ockomon said.
8. What does the Anderson Municipal Airport have to offer?
The airport generates about $7 million in business for the Anderson area and sees about 30,000 planes take off and land each year, according to Steve Darlington, the general manager.
The $7 million is based on a study done by the Aviation Association of Indiana. The group calculates that figure by considering airport expenditures, transportation cost savings, based aircraft and other factors.
Darlington said that the $7 million the airport was determined to have generated as of the last AAI report (2005) was down from around $10 million in previous years. Indianapolis Metropolitan generates $24 million, meaning the two airports brought in a combined $31 million.
In contrast, the Muncie airport generates about $66 million in business, and Mount Comfort near Noblesville takes in $24 million.
Darlington says the airport draws people to Anderson — business people scoping out possible new territory, passengers and plane owners who spend money in the city, and airport employees.
And there’s more in the future.
The airport just received a $3 million grant to do work on the taxiway, and more money is coming in September, said Darlington. Airport officials are looking to expand its shorter runway, and Darlington says that there’s a developer interested in building a hangar complex on the airport’s east side.
Since new business has come to the area — like IBM in Daleville, and Nestlé in Anderson — the airport is getting a lot of business traffic, Darlington said. After General Motors left the city, there was a downturn in traffic, he said, but now it’s starting to pick up.
9. What are Anderson Municipal Airport’s drawbacks?
Some people say that it’s landlocked and expanding it to accommodate greater traffic would be difficult, the same criticisms leveled against Metro in Fishers.
According to Darlington, funding has been down over the past four to five years. Repairs have been delayed.
“Most of the work is on the taxiway and asphalt that we got behind on,” said Darlington.
Infrastructure improvements such as runway lighting and maintenance on hangers also have to be done, said Darlington.
10. Could two airports co-exist in Madison County?
Yes. But it might be overkill.
Darlington says it could work, but he doesn’t think it’s necessary for the county to have two airports. If two did exist, he pointed out, Anderson Municipal would have the advantage of already having a control tower.
Tony Molinaro of the FAA said his agency would have to conduct a study over such issues as air space and determine whether a new airport interfered with others in the area.
“It depends on what planes would fly in and which way runways were pointed,” said Molinaro.
11. What function would the new airport serve?
According to a feasibility study done on the proposed airport, the airport would:
- Serve aircraft ranging in size from “single-engine piston aircraft to midsize business jets with transcontinental ability”
- Be the base for 200 or more aircraft
- Be certified as a reliever airport for Indianapolis International
- Serve flight traffic for Madison, Marion and Hancock counties.
The airport would not serve common passenger jet planes or cargo planes.
There would be a 500-by-100 foot primary runway with a taxiway (with potential to expand to 7,000 feet); a 4,000-by-75 foot “crosswind runway” placed 90 degrees from the main runway; a 65-acre passenger terminal with access to Interstate 69; and the potential to build a control tower.
The replacement airport would be “unconstrained,” essentially leaving room for future expansion — which the current Anderson and Indianapolis Metropolitan airports don’t have, according to the study.
Employment numbers haven’t been proposed, but currently Indianapolis Metro in Fishers has one full-time employ and 33 working for Indianapolis Aviation Inc., the fixed-base operator.
12. Who is Aerofinity and what role is it playing?
Aerofinity is an Indianapolis-based airport planning firm that authored a study — commissioned by the Flagship Enterprise Center, paid for by the town of Fishers — of the feasibility of an airport in southern Madison County.
Aerofinity has no role in the creation of an airport except that it was hired to provide information about the potential for an airport in southern Madison County.
Aerofinity looked for a piece of land that would be best suited for an airport. The report it authored contains data about several local airports, the impacts of the proposed airport, what it would look like, and even complaints and questions from the public.
Aerofinity’s report refers to the proposed airport as a “replacement” airport, a combination of both Anderson Municipal and Indianapolis Metropolitan airports.
13. Why did Noblesville pass up the opportunity to build the airport?
According to Noblesville city councilman Alan Hinds, Mount Comfort serves Noblesville just fine. It’s just 18 minutes from the city’s corporate campus, and there’s room around it to expand.
“Mount Comfort has all the facilities we need to handle corporate travel,” said Hinds.
Also, said Hinds, the area situated near Noblesville for the airport was too large and would’ve taken up too much land. Airport property is tax-free, so Noblesville would have lost a large chunk of tax revenue.
“As we looked at the proximity of Mount Comfort and the amount of acreage that would have to be allotted, it just wasn’t a good decision,” said Hinds.
14. What is the ‘No Fly Zone?’
It is a group of citizens who’d probably tell you pigs will fly over their houses before any planes do.
Greg Valentine, the Green Township trustee and a member of the No Fly Zone steering committee, says that the group has 300 people on its weekly e-mail list and 300 anti-airport signs in residents’ yards. Drive between Pendleton and Lapel, and you’ll see the signs everywhere, white with the silhouette of a Learjet with a red line through it.
They have 1,500 signatures on an anti-airport petition, said Valentine.
“My big concern is not only the township,” said Valentine. “I live in an 1853 homestead. My dad will be 90 in April, and he’s lived in that since he was born.”
If the airport were to be built, not only would there be more air traffic over residents’ homes, but there would also be a few thousand fewer acres of farmland.
Aerofinity’s report identifies 4,000 acres of farmland between Indiana 13 and 38, Old Indiana 132 and County Road 625 West for the site of the proposed airport.
Melvin, Charlsie and Jeff Purdue own a farm along County Road 700 West, almost right in the middle of the area studied for the proposed airport. They have about 140 acres. Melvin and Charlsie have lived there since 1955, and Jeff, their son, takes care of all the farming.
And yes, they have a No Fly Zone sign in front of their house.
“We thought it was a dead dodo,” said Melvin Purdue, referring to Kris Ockomon’s “dead-issue” remark. “We think it’s well and good to promote the Anderson airport.”
Jeff says that he’s happy as a farmer. He doesn’t want to sell his land and make a quick buck. He farms over 3,000 acres, he says, and has built up his business over 30 years.
“All the farmers out here aren’t out to cash a big check,” said Jeff Purdue. “It really insults us when people like the mayor of Anderson (think) that if they write a big enough check, people will do anything.”
Fresh from tending to four large silos located on the property, Jeff Purdue insisted that he would “never sell the farm.” He wants to keep it for future generations.
“The food they put on their table comes off of land just like this,” he said.
15. How would an airport affect taxes?
According to the feasibility study, 1,500 acres would be taken off the tax rolls, as airports are untaxed entities.
However, the study says that development around the airport could produce some 2,500 acres of taxable retail or industrial entities.
Greg Valentine, the Green Township trustee, said that an airport could be quite taxing on tax collection in the area. About 110 taxable properties would be gone from the area, he said.
“Who wants to buy a house with a 747 (jet) 200 feet above their heads?” Valentine said.
Jeff Purdue, speaking about himself and his neighbors, says he is worried about the “huge chunk” of property taxes that would be taken away from the local government.
“(The airport) would have a negative economic impact,” he said.
16. Could infrastructure problems impede plans?
There are high-voltage power lines and underground pipes that run through the proposed area.
A power line tower is located about 256 feet above the ground; according to Aerofinity, that will be “taken into account during the air space analysis, and it may be necessary to relocate the tower to provide the necessary clear air space.”
There are also two pipelines that run under the proposed area. One is an 18-foot intrastate natural gas pipe and the other an 8-foot “refined products” pipe. The natural gas pipeline would not be effected by a proposed airport. Aerofinity says “further analysis is needed” on the refined products pipe’s location.
17. What positions have local governments taken on the proposed airport?
Don Henderson, president of the Pendleton town council, said that Pendleton legislators are undecided about the project. But Henderson said the airport could be used as a tool to attract industry.
Henderson used the example of Nestlé: The company looked at Pendleton, but decided not to move into that town because there was no railroad spur. In the future, an airport may be the deciding factor in whether a business comes to town.
Madison County Council President Scott Tischler said that nothing has been determined about the proposed airport. In fact, he said, all that he’s learned about the airport proposal has come from local media reports.
“I can’t speak for the other council members,” said Tischler. “We can approve the finances of various things, but we don’t have any authority outside the finances.”
Lapel council members could not be reached for comment. Green Township Trustee Greg Valentine’s position, however, is clear.
“It would not fit well in the community,” said Valentine.
18. What’s the difference between Indianapolis International and Indianapolis Metropolitan airports?
There’s the name. And then there’s the purpose.
Indianapolis Metro airport is a “reliever” airport for Indianapolis International. Smaller planes land at Indianapolis Metro so that the international airport can focus on commercial flights.
Indianapolis Metro has one runway used primarily for corporate, charter and pleasure flights. At Indianapolis Metro, one can train to be a pilot or an airplane mechanic.
The Indianapolis Airport Authority purchased Indianapolis Metro in the 1960s so that it could function as a reliever for Indianapolis International.
19. What economic benefits could the proposed airport bring?
According to Art Pepelea, this airport could attract as much business as Indianapolis International.
“Hotels, business, just like Indianapolis International airport — the sky is the limit,” said Pepelea. “What couldn’t be there?”
Pepelea believes that if an airport is not built in southern Madison County, something else will be, whether it’s a shopping mall or several large subdivisions.
According to Aerofinity’s projections, the airport would operate $11,000 in the red during the first year, make a modest amount of revenue in years two and three and see expenses outpace operating revenue in years four and five.
20. How many property owners would have to give up their land?
According to a source close to the proposal, there are 11 landowners in the 1,500 acres that would serve as the airport. In the 4,000 acres scenario, which would include airport and development area, there are 40 landowners. According to the source, most of those landowners have agreed to sell. Anderson City Councilman Art Pepelea said that among the property owners who have been approached to sell their land, “none said no.”
“You’re going to make several cash millionaires here,” he said.
According to Jeff Purdue, there are some people in the area who would be willing to sell their farm — but not many.
Valentine says that one family farm has signed an option to sell their land, if need be.
“Over 100 residents would need to go if they took all 4,000 acres (as outlined in the feasibility report),” he said.
Sources are unwilling to discuss whether eminent domain could play a role in the acquisition of property.
“I would hope that if matters proceed that any acquisition of real estate would be at arm’s length and that no need for eminent domain would ever arise,” said Doug Church of Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim of Noblesville.
