Introduction
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION PLANNING BACKGROUND The overall objective of an airport master plan update is to provide a framework for long-term development that encourages the future growth of aviation in the community. It is important the plan considers safety, economic efficiency, and environmental responsibility while meeting this overall objective. The Miles City Airport Commission understands the importance of maintaining a current master plan and directed the preparation of this update. To satisfy the community’s need for a comprehensive planning effort, the Commission established the following planning objectives for this master plan: Formulate a clear understanding of the airport’s role and the types of aircraft and aviation activities it is expected to serve. Identify and document issues the proposed development will address. Justify the proposed development through the technical, economic, and environmental investigation of concepts and alternatives. Establish a realistic schedule for the implementation of the development proposed in the plan, particularly the short-term capital improvement program. Propose an achievable financial plan to support the implementation schedule. Identify subsequent environmental evaluations that may be required before a proposed project is approved. Provide an Airport Layout Plan identifying existing and proposed airport development. PLANNING METHOD Planning and operating Frank Wiley Field (MLS) substantially affects the community. For that reason, airport development must be a grassroots effort, involving the area’s citizens to the greatest extent possible in the planning process. Community involvement also has the positive effect of building consensus for the growth of aviation and support of efforts to further develop Frank Wiley Field. Airport development often involves the commitment of extensive community resources and is critical to the successful implementation of the Master Plan Update. The Miles City Airport Commission recognizes the need for community involvement and support in the preparation of this Master Plan Update. To that end, the Commission chose to include a body of community representatives to assist in the planning process. The community representatives are known as the Technical Advisory Committee. The Miles City Airport Commission also has provided public outreach through the following efforts: 1 | Introduction 1. Draft chapters will be placed on the Miles City Chamber of Commerce/City of Miles City website. 2. Business and user surveys will be circulated through several outlets (electronic and paper format). 3. Public meetings 4. Radio, newspaper and other media outlets PLANNING SCOPE The planning scope of work includes the following major tasks: INTRODUCTION The purpose of this task is to gather relevant data in order to formulate profiles of the community and airport. FACILITIES INVENTORY The purpose of this task is to collect and map baseline data regarding airport facilities and aviation activity. This data provides benchmarks to measure against aviation forecasts and airport facility requirements prepared in subsequent tasks. FORECASTS The purpose of this task is to project short, medium, and long-term critical aviation activity (enplanements, based aircraft, operations, etc.) The forecasts are used to identify the airport’s future facility requirements. FACILITY REQUIREMENTS The purpose of this task is to determine the airport’s future facilities requirements based on forecast aviation activity. CONCEPTS Based upon the facility requirements identified, alternatives to meet future demand will be developed and evaluated. Selection of a preferred alternative will be based on several factors including functionality, ease of implementation, potential environmental impacts, and development cost. IMPLEMENTATION The purpose of this task is to formulate realistic implementation strategies and funding mechanisms for the capital improvements. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The purpose of this task is to briefly review the proposed capital improvements for potential environmental consequences in order to determine what type of environmental clearance may be required. RECYCLING & SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2 | Introduction The purpose of this task is to develop a plan for recycling and minimizing the generation of airport solid waste. AIRPORT LAYOUT PLAN (ALP) The purpose of this task is to prepare a graphic presentation of existing and future airport facilities as identified by the planning process. The ALP serves as a public record and is subject to the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in its review of proposed development projects. Airport development not shown on a FAA approved ALP is generally not eligible for federal funding. AIRPORT PROFILE Frank Wiley Field is located two miles northwest of Miles City along Montana State Highway 22. The airport owns approximately 1,650 acres of land that is primarily surrounded by privately owned agricultural land. A sand, gravel, and concrete quarry, and other industrial businesses border the southeastern side of airport property. MLS has two runways. Runway 4-22 is 5,680 feet long and 75 feet wide. Runway 12-30 is 5,628 feet long and 100 feet wide. Twenty aircraft are currently based at the airport and approximately 11,000 operations (takeoffs or landings) occur at Frank Wiley Field each year. In the US, there are over 5,200 public use airports. MLS and more than 3,300 other airports are designated by the FAA to be of significant interest to the national air transportation system and eligible to receive federal grants for airport improvements. The FAA’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) defines the roles of these airports. MLS is classified as a general aviation facility and its role is further segmented into the “local” category. As defined by the FAA, an airport in this Source: http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/ 3 | Introduction category “…supplements local communities by providing access to local and regional markets. These airports have moderate levels of activity with some multiengine propeller aircraft. These airports average about 33-based propeller-driven aircraft and no jets.” Other NPIAS airports in the vicinity of MLS are shown below in TABLE 1-1. Tillitt Field (Forsyth, MT) and Terry Airport (Terry, MT) are the only NPIAS airports within an hour’s drive of Frank Wiley Field. Table 1-1: Airports Near Miles City Airport NPIAS Classification Approximate Drive Time to MLS Billings Logan International Primary 120 minutes Terry Airport General Aviation 40 minutes Tillitt Field General Aviation 40 minutes Dawson Community Airport General Aviation 80 minutes Baker Municipal Airport General Aviation 80 minutes Colstrip Airport General Aviation 80 minutes HISTORY The City of Miles City purchased the land that the existing airport is located on in 1948. The original airport consisted of two turf runways by the fairgrounds. The airport was named after Frank Wiley, a Miles City pilot born in 1900. Frank got his pilot license in 1919, and was operating commercially by 1920. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army. After the war, Frank Wiley was the director of the State Aeronautics Commission for 16 years and wrote a book on aviation history in Montana called "Montana and the Sky," which was published by the State Historical Society in 1962. Today, Frank Wiley Field plays an important role in the social and economic well-being of Miles City. The airport serves the region with emergency medical air service, cargo service, charters, and general aviation facilities. ORGANIZATION MLS has an Airport Commission which guides operation and development of the airport, establishes any rules, regulations, agreements and fees/charges deemed necessary for that purpose. 4 | Introduction AIRLINE SERVICE Prior to July 15th of 2013, Frank Wiley Field received scheduled passenger service under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. EAS is an airline subsidy program created by Airline Deregulation Act in 1978. EAS was formulated to maintain service to small communities that would have otherwise lost passenger service due to airline deregulation. Congress recently passed substantial reforms to the EAS program. On August 5, 2011, the President signed the “Airport Photo of World War I fighter planes enroute to Spokane stationed at Miles City and Airway Extension Act, Photo taken from Capt. Robert E. Selff Collection. Part IV. That law contained a provision which prohibits providing EAS to communities whose annual passenger subsidies are greater than $1,000 per passenger, regardless of their distance from the nearest hub airport. Subsequently, the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012” waived the requirement that communities receive EAS on 15-seat or larger aircraft. On February 14, 2012, the President signed the “Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012” which contained several additional reforms. First, Photo of the original turf runway at Miles City, which is now realigned Runway the law capped the communities in 12-30 from Frank Stoltz. Photo is taken from Capt. Robert E. Selff Collection. the contiguous 48 states that are eligible to participate in the program. (There were no changes in Alaska or Hawaii.) The law states that only those communities that were receiving subsidized EAS at any time between September 30, 2010, and September 30, 2011, or that received a 90-day notice from their incumbent carrier and the Department