Mayor Had Asked In August For A Ruling On Its Closure From The Agency By Thanksgiving

The city of St. Clair, MO, wants to close its airport, but is still waiting for word from the FAA about whether it can do so. Mayor Ron Blum's reasons for wanting to close the airport are familiar. He says it has been losing money for several years, and the city has plans for development of a retail shopping complex on the site. Blum has been trying to close the airport since 2007.

The city sent the final narrative analysis requested by the FAA to the agency in August, and requested that it respond within 90 days. The mayor told the newspaper The Missourian that he is still waiting for that response.

In its narrative, the city requested "release from all past grant obligations, subject to a requirement to repay the unamortized portion of such grants, and requests closure of St. Clair Regional Airport and authorization to sell the land by sealed bid, subject to a requirement that all proceeds from said sale be provided for disbursement at the direction of the Federal Aviation Administration." It most recently received an AIP grant for the airport in 2006.

Mayor Blum said that the city has provided the FAA with all of the information it requested before it could make a decision as to whether to allow the airport to be closed, which the city has said does not provide any benefit to the community. They argue that the FAA's attempts to blame the airport's state of disrepair and low usage as "a lack of proactive measures by the city are unwarranted."

Mayor Blum told the paper that he hopes to have an answer from the FAA early next year.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.stclairmo.com/stclairmo/cityhall.htm