Marion moves forward with plan to close airport runway

The Marion City Council gave its permission Thursday for the city to begin the process of closing the Marion Airport runway by this summer. The move will effectively halt flights at the airport.

Last month, the city council sought proposals for the sale of the city-owned runway, setting a minimum price of $857,500. The deadline for bids was March 3. No bids were received by the deadline.

“Due to the fact there were no proposals, that the City does not have a dedicated revenue source to fund the ownership of the airport as based upon the analysis (done), and (due to) other competing community projects, it is recommended City Council consider steps needed to formally close the airport runway by June 30, 2025,” City Manager Ryan Waller told the council.

Under current regulations, the airport is not eligible to receive federal funding support.

The city bought the runway and a fixed base operations building in 2015 for $1.67 million. The rest of the airport property is owned by LuxAir, a private company that was formed in 2015 as the runway sale was coming together.

The city established an Airport Layout Plan in 2017 guided by an Airport Advisory Board, made up of mostly private pilots. The plan detailed a list of improvements including adding an east-west runway. The 2017 plan called for about $30 million in overall investment.

In 2020, the city completed an extension project for the current runway. The project cost $1.8 million, with $424,000 of that funded by an Iowa DOT grant as well as other grants for the design and zoning. The rest of the cost was covered by city bonds.

Late bid could be the focus of future council meeting

The council held a public hearing on the proposed sale at Thursday’s meeting. No one from the public spoke, but there were a few written comments that requested more time to resolve the situation.

The city did receive a bid earlier Thursday, three days after the deadline. Staff said they had not had time to delve into the bid before the council meeting Thursday evening.

Waller told The Gazette Friday the bid was not in official form because it was submitted by email on Thursday. He said the airport committee and the council will meet soon, probably in closed session, to discuss the bid along with any legal questions that might arise.

While he would not disclose the amount of the bid, he said it “is well below the minimum” the city requested.

"The city's focus during this whole process has been to ensure this community asset continues to operate. Our goal is to keep the airport open. The city will always consider serious offers," Waller said.

Some council members commented, before their unanimous vote Thursday, that the city had a committee studying the situation for months and recently concluded there was no sustainable income coming in and that the runway should be sold, or closed if no buyer was found.

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‘There are a lot of people who will be affected by this’

Jeff Witter, an owner of LuxAir, said he is "disappointed and saddened" by the council action. But he expressed hope that the bid submitted Thursday might resolve the situation.

He said he has knowledge of the proposal, but did not feel he was at liberty to discuss it on Friday.

"I'm glad we have a little bit of time" to try finding a solution, Witter said. "There are a lot of people that will be affected by this," he said, referring to his business, private pilots using the airport and the PNN Flight School that is a tenant there.

The airport supports daily traffic, including air ambulance services, flight training, charters, private business travel, aerial photography and agricultural spraying.

"I cannot imagine Marion without an airport," Witter said, noting the Marion Airport has existed since the 1950s. "It has grown so much is the past couple years. It would be a shame to see it come to a screeching halt.“

If an agreement cannot be reached by June 30, Witter is unsure about the future.

"All our property is zoned for aviation use. We can't covert it (to another use) unless the zoning is changed," Witter said.

Attempts to contact a P&N Flight School spokesperson for a comment were unsuccessful. P&N leases space from LuxAir.