Moses Lake Municipal Airport could change hands

MOSES LAKE — Management of the Moses Lake Municipal Airport was the subject of a brief discussion at the Port of Moses Lake commission meeting Monday, as city officials mull over the notion of passing management of the facility to the port.

Port commissioners said there’s no proposal as of yet, nothing more than an idea.

“We’ve seen nothing from the city,” Commissioner Kent Jones said. 

“We’re not even talking yet. We just had an idea floated,” said interim executive director Kim DeTrlolio. 

City manager Kevin Fuhr attended a port commission meeting in October, and suggested the city might be interested in transferring management, and maybe ownership, of the municipal airport to the port. Rod Richeson, chair of the municipal airport commission, attended Monday’s meeting to express the commission’s support for that idea. 

“We believe there’s a lot of upside to the municipal airport. There’s a lot of growth that could occur,” Richeson said. 

The airport commissioners think the municipal airport could relieve some of the pressure on the Grant County International Airport, Richeson said, with the right kind of development and management. 

“The city has recognized they’re just not very good at managing airports,” Richeson said. “And it would be nice to have someone who’s in the business of managing airports (in charge).

“We believe that there are benefits for both the tenants of the municipal airport and the port district (for the port) to have that property and be able to develop it into a really fine reliever for this airport,” Richeson added. 

If city officials make a proposal, the decision whether or not to take it will be in the hands of Jones and Commissioner Stroud Kunkle. Commissioner Darrin Jackson said Monday that he would recuse himself from any discussions or making any decisions. 

Jackson owns a business at the municipal airport and was a member of the airport commission. He resigned from the airport commission about two months ago, he said. He left the room during the discussion with Richeson.

Kunkle said he would be open to listening to a proposal. 

“I think we do need to take a look,” Kunkel said.

Jones said his decision would depend on the details. 

“I may have some questions when I see what we get from the city,” Jones said, and added, “I’m not opposed to it. I’ve got a lot of questions, as anybody who’s watched me very long knows I do.”

Jones said he wanted to know more about the current condition of the property, the operating costs and its annual budget, among other things.

“I don’t know what kind of information they’re going to give us,” Jones said. “First of all we need to talk about what the benefit to the port is.” 

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    An aircraft outside a hangar at the Moses Lake Municipal Airport. City officials have approached Port of Moses Lake officials about assuming responsibility for the municipal airport.