WILLMAR -- The duties and responsibilities of the Willmar Airport Commission will change if the City Council approves amendments to the ordinance that established the Airport Commission.
One change states the Airport Commission will serve as an advisory body to the council concerning all airport improvements, maintenance, equipment and regulations. The commission would no longer be responsible for managing and supervising airport operations.
But the Airport Commission would participate and recommend economic development and marketing activities at the airport. Also, changes would require that at least two of the commission's seven members be licensed pilots whose primary base of operation is the Willmar Airport.
These and other changes will be noted when the City Council holds a public hearing on the amendments at the May 1 regular meeting. The hearing date was set by the council Monday night.
The changes have been in the works since the beginning of the year after the terms of several commission members expired at the end of 2005. At the Feb. 21 meeting, Mayor Les Heitke asked council members to reconsider the Airport Commission's role now that construction of the new airport is nearly complete and will open this summer.
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One of the Airport Commission's responsibilities had been to direct the planning, development, construction and operation of the new airport. The amendments would eliminate that responsibility.
Heitke asked the Public Works/Safety Committee and city staff to discuss the issue and make recommendations.
"I'm not saying that we should eliminate the Airport Commission,'' Heitke had said. "Maybe we should restructure it and give it a new direction or a new emphasis on what it should do.''
On April 11, the Public Works Committee voted to recommend several amendments suggested by city staff to more clearly define the commission's role as the new airport located west of the city moves to daily operations and maintenance.
During council discussion of the amendments Monday night, council member Steve Gardner suggested commission membership be changed to require three licensed pilots.
Gardner said he was not saying that having a preponderance of pilots would create any additional problems for the airport manager.
"But I think having a set number of representatives from that user group would ensure they have a large enough voice in what's happening at the airport and how the users are being affected,'' he said.
Public Works Committee Chairman Doug Reese said he was more comfortable with requiring at least two pilots as members. "I do not disagree entirely, but having at least two gives us a better way of filling those vacancies,'' he said.
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Heitke said the seven-member Rice Hospital Board has one physician representative "and that seems to function well with the hospital,'' he said.
