Supervisors further delay action on airport ordinance

Even after meeting with INRCOG representative Brian Schoon, Grundy Center City Clerk Kristy Sawyer and Public Works Director Dan Bangasser on Monday morning, the Grundy County Board of Supervisors moved no closer to setting a public hearing and voting on a proposed ordinance that would impose building height restrictions in the areas surrounding the Grundy Center Airport. 
           
The difference of opinion on the matter essentially boils down to a pair of conflicting monetary interests: the city of Grundy Center spent approximately $8,000 in crafting the ordinance and can recoup 80 percent of those funds through a grant if the county adopts it, while the supervisors fear that the ordinance, which would place height restrictions on building within an 8,875 foot radius of the airport (located four miles west of Grundy Center on Highway 175), could jeopardize the Ivester Wind Farm and other future economic development projects.
           
Because the airport is classified as “local service,” estimates on its use are not definitive (the Federal Aviation Administration broadly figures 250 annual flights per based aircraft), and Supervisor Harlyn Riekena claimed that a nearby resident told him only 10 to 15 planes flew in and out of the grass strip per year. Riekena and fellow Supervisor Mark Schildroth both expressed ambivalence about the proposal during Monday’s meeting.
           
“I just don’t know which way to feel about this,” Schildroth said. “I can’t see the benefit either way, in all honesty, at this point in time.”
 
Read more in this week's Grundy Register.