Field's Survival Will Go To Vote (Again) In November
In three previous votes over the past 27 years, supporters of
the Blaine, WA Municipal Airport have kept the field open and
available to pilots, sometimes by the narrowest of margins.
This November, opponents will try for Round Four. A ballot
measure before voters will determine if the city council should
consider closing the small single-strip airport. Although the vote
alone will not bind the seven-member council to abolish the
airport, public opinion will play a strong role in its future.
"The casualness this is being handled with is incredible to me,"
said pilot Bob Anderson, who bases his Cirrus SR22 at the field.
"It is amazing to me people don't know how lucky they are. It's a
gift from heaven."
Adding insult to (potential) injury, Blaine Municipal is in line
for a 20-year, $16.9 million improvement plan funded mostly by the
FAA, according to the Bellingham Herald newspaper. Those plans
include extending the current 2500-foot runway, as well as
installing an ILS approach system at the field. Such improvements
would allow corporate turboprop aircraft to use the field,
according to airport proponents, potentially increasing business
travel (and revenue) into the city.
Supporters also say a
larger airport might lure new businesses to Blaine, a town of under
4,000 people just south of the Canadian border that is home to the
"Peace Arch." Of course, there is no guarantee, and supporters
acknowledge that.
"Just because you have a better airport doesn't mean those
companies will relocate to Blaine," said city airport
commission chariman Doug Fenton. "But if it doesn't have an
airport, they definitely won't."
Opponents see the airport differently, according to Blaine
realtor Dennis Hill. He argues the land currently occupied by the
airport would be better utilized for luring industrial sector jobs
back to Blaine.
"In some sort of perfect world, we'd have some sort of industry
that pays $20 an hour so people can live in Blaine," said Hill, who
has led a PAC against the airfield. "There should be a national
search to find the industry to put in there." The land under
the field could be worth as much as $9 million for development for
an industrial client, according to Hill.
The land could also be used for a large truck stop to support
truckers waiting to cross into Canada, bringing needed dollars into
the city that has suffered from the devaluation of the Canadian
dollar and the decline of the commercial fishing industry.
"It wouldn't be the prettiest thing," Hill said. "[But] gas
stations and bars were the lifeblood of Blaine for 30 years."
Airport supporters
respond that it might cost more to close the airport than to keep
it open. In the last 20 years, the city has received approximately
$388,000 in grants from the Washington Department of Transportation
for field improvements and repairs. Should the airport close, the
money would likely have to be repaid, according to DOT spokeswoman
Nisha Hanchinamani.
The field's three tenants also would likely be entitled to some
sort of money for damages if the airport were to close, and there
is a chance any move towards closing the airport would be met with
legal action. Washington Pilots Association president Jim Smith has
already stated his group would consider legal action should the
field face closure.
Above all, supporters maintain the airport is simply too
valuable to lose.
"The sad part about airports is it is hard to build a new one,"
Anderson said. "They are almost an endangered species. We can't
just close these things willy-nilly."