Committee member questions rebuild of Jefferson City airport terminal
The City of Jefferson Airport Advisory Committee reviewed a report Monday that included a recommendation to demolish and rebuild the Jefferson City Memorial Airport because of damage left by weeks of major flooding.
The recommendation from the Jefferson City Public Works and Planning Department came as floodplain regulations force a significant repair because of the amount of damage surpassing half the building’s total assessed value.
“If your improvements are more than 50 percent of the value, then you’re supposed to come into compliance with all floodplain requirements,” operations director Britt Smith said. “That means, we would have to elevate the building to above the floodplain, or protect it so that it doesn’t get damaged during a future flood. That’s really not practical with that existing structure.”
Committee member Trey Propes told ABC 17 News he believes there is a need for the airport to have a terminal, but that a significant amount of planning and research still needs to be done before an informed decision should be made.
Another member of the committee, Jonathan Abbott, said he wasn’t convinced that reopening the terminal would be in the city’s financial interest.
Abbott said without a federal or otherwise outside funding source, the airport may be more fiscally sound operating without a terminal.
Propes said the committee will likely meet again before its scheduled Dec. 3 meeting, should the Jefferson City council move on an airport plan.
