FAA Environmental Assessment Finds No Significant Impact

The city of Fort Morgan, CO is a step closer to getting a new runway at its municipal airport. The FAA has released its environmental impact assessment of the airport's plans, and has found there is "no significant impact" on the environment from plans to construct a new runway at KFMM.

The letter was presented at the Fort Morgan City Council meeting Tuesday night. The Fort Morgan Times reports that the city has been working for several years to add a runway to the airport. Community Development Director David Callahan told the paper that the letter makes it possible for "everything to fall into place" for the new runway.

City manager Jeff Wells said that the new runway is needed because the existing runway has fallen into a state of disrepair. He said it has "outlived its useful life," and it is being monitored for safety concerns.

The next steps are acquisition of the land for the runway, and receipt of a promised $700,000 federal grant for design and engineering work. Callahan said he hopes the city can make an offer to the owner of the targeted land later this year. Construction on the runway would then likely begin in 2014, with completion targeted sometime in 2015.

The planned new runway would be slightly wider than the existing strip, and 500 feet longer for a total length of 5,730 feet. It would be built parallel to the existing runway, provided the city can acquire the necessary land.

FMI: www.cityoffortmorgan.com