Mary and Chris Hogan fought hard against the expansion of Austin Municipal Airport, but when they lost the fight, they just wanted to get on with life.

Thursday, March 16, 2000

Mary and Chris Hogan fought hard against the expansion of Austin Municipal Airport, but when they lost the fight, they just wanted to get on with life.

For the last year and a half, that’s been difficult. They’ve been stuck in the limbo of knowing the city wanted to acquire their property for the expansion, but not knowing when, and being unable to move because they hadn’t been paid by the city yet.

"Whenever you make plans, they just get ruined," Hogan said. "You can look, but the seller won’t wait. If you want to build around here, you need to start planning months, maybe a year or two in advance. It’s unfair – not being able to settle your living arrangements puts an enormous amount of stress into your life.

Hogan said the waiting, and the not-knowing have been the worst part. Well, her wait may soon be over.

With the passage of the AIR-21 bill by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, only President Clinton or the state of Minnesota could stop the expansion of Austin Municipal Airport now. The $40 billion Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century passed overwhelmingly, with a vote of 319-101.

The bill allocates more than $16 million to help Minnesota airports. Austin – as well as Faribault and Rochester in southeastern Minnesota – is one of the airports promised funds by the state during the long wait for the bill’s passage. How much Austin ultimately will get is still not sure, City Engineer Jon Erichson told members of the Austin City Council Airport and Trails committee earlier this week. He also declined to guess when the funds would get here.

Austin’s proposed expansion comes in at about $7.2 million, according to 1998 estimates. The expansion centers around extending the existing runway to the south. In addition, the proposed project would include the construction of associated taxiways and aprons, the installation of associated navigational aids (that would allow landing in less than ideal weather), and the relocation of the existing terminal and adjacent hangar elsewhere on airport property.

"The entire state of Minnesota will benefit from this bill," First District Congressman Gil Gutknecht said after the vote. "Transportation is critical for future economic growth. Adequate funding will benefit commerce, tourism and passenger safety."

While the Austin airport doesn’t do much trade in tourists, the expansion of the main runway is key to keeping its corporate users happy and complying with safety standards. The current runway is 4,796 feet long, which is 204 feet short of the minimum 5,000 feet most corporate jet owners desire.

Austin’s main corporate user is the Hormel Foods Corp., which initiated conversations with the city about expanding the airport about four years ago.

Hormel flies in and out of Austin all but about 30 days per year (when bad weather won’t permit it). The company has three corporate jets based in Austin, which are used to transport company executives to business meetings, engineers to different plants, sales people to clients and to bring Hormel customers into Austin.

Safety was another major factor, both for those in the planes and for people living around the airport.