The state Department of Transportation is looking at the feasibility of putting some type of airport or other airplane-related business on the grounds of the Brunswick Naval Air Station when it closes in 2011 and what effect that would have on similar facilities in the state.
Funded with a $200,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the study will look at whether an airport or any aviation-based business would be profitable or provide needed service to the state. It will not, however, make recommendations for one plan over another.
Members of the public will get an overview of what areas are being tackled in the study and be able to say what they think should be added at a hearing this Thursday, starting at 7 p.m., at the old high school on McKeen Street in Brunswick.
House Speaker John Richardson reiterated Monday that he hopes everyone keeps an open mind.
“I want to be very open to the possibility of an airport,” he said, but “I’m not sitting here saying we need a Portland Jetport.” Richardson said the existing airstrip on the base could be used to service a high-technology office park or an aircraft maintenance facility.
“I’m open to the possibility of some airport use,” he said.
Richardson said 50 percent of all military airfields that have closed have been re-used, at least in part, for an aviation-related business. Since the FAA is going to maintain the tower, he said, “It seems it ought to be reasonably considered.”
Asked when the state would consider bonds to aid in the redevelopment of the air station, Richardson said it’s too soon right now to consider a bond. “What are we trying to achieve?” he asked, adding that needs to be determined first before a bond can be floated. He said the answer likely won’t be clear until next June, just as the Legislature is about to adjourn.
Tracy Perez, director of planning and policy for MDOT’s office of passenger transportation, said the airport study will look at multiple uses including a commercial airport offering passenger service; cargo service; a landing strip for private planes; or using the site for an aviation-related business like refurbishing airplanes.
It also will look at the impact on the state’s air system, particularly airports in the region, including Wiscasset, Portland, Augusta and Auburn, and whether an operator can make any money.
“Running an airport is very expensive,” Perez said, citing recent reports that the airport at the former Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire lost a $1 million last year. “The golf course made money; the airport lost money.”
Perez said the study will look at cost versus potential revenue and jobs, and whether an airport would provide a needed service now or in the future.
It will tell local planners “this is what it’s going to cost you and this is the potential revenue, and you’re going to have to decide what you want to do,” she said.
“Airports take a lot of capital investments constantly to maintain them,” Perez said, and the state gets a lump sum from the FAA to support 36 facilities statewide, including six with regular passenger service. “We don’t have enough money now,” she said, and “if we’re adding another airport to the mix, what impact would it have?”
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