Airport Advocacy Group Reaches Deal With Festus City Council

After years of lobbying the Festus City Council not to sell the county's only airport, Citizens for Airport Economic Expansion members placed the winning bid on the property and bought it themselves.

Pilot and CAEE member Terry Propst said he was relieved the group finally secured the future of the Festus Municipal Airport (FES) after many years of facing an uncertain future, the St. Louis Suburban Journals reported.

"We can sleep at night now," Propst said. "A couple of years ago it was very bleak. Some members of CAEE had picked out another airport in Bonne Terre and were ready to rent hangars. But I have to commend Mayor Doyle and the council. It's great to see this unanimous decision."

As ANN reported in March of 2007, despite CAEE's best efforts to promote the value of maintaining the airport, the City Council voted to sell the land to raise funds for the improvement of the town's public works.

When the sale became inevitable, a group of CAEE members who wanted to buy and upgrade the field formed the Airport Investment Group and placed a bid.

The City Council had two offers for the land, one from CAEE and another from Wings Iron Ore, a mining firm planning to build a $1 billion iron smelter in nearby Crystal City.
On December 3, CAEE got the nod.

Appraised for $2 million, the property sold for an undisclosed amount that fell short of the city's original asking price of $3.8 million, city administrator Steve Stoll said.

Propst indicated that plans to expand the airport could begin soon, starting with an 800-foot extension to the 2,200 foot runway. Future plans involve lengthening the runway even more to accommodate turboprop and light jet traffic, likely requiring federal and state funds.

"We may need a city or the county to sponsor the runway, but we don't think that will be too hard to find," Propst said.

FMI: www.orgsites.com/mo/caee