The Federal Aviation Administration has released a final draft of an environmental assessment of the proposed site for a regional airport.
According to the FAA report, no significant impact on environmental resources was found at the location, including: air quality, biological resources such as flora and fauna, endangered or threatened species, climate, farmlands, natural resources, noise, water resources, or hazardous waste and pollution prevention. Some potential impacts are listed in the findings, but were not deemed to be significant enough to stop potential construction from occuring.
Outlined in the report are the various alternatives to the project considered and why the current project stands as it does. According to the document, the purpose of the proposed new airport is to accommodate large airplane traffic that the current Pella and Oskaloosa Municipal Airports can’t serve.
The City of Pella, City of Oskaloosa, and Mahaska County Board of Supervisors entered into a 28E Agreement in 2012 to attempt to build a regional airport in northern Mahaska County that replaces the current municipal facilities in Pella and south of Oskaloosa. The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors voted to leave the agreement earlier this year, but were blocked by the Pella and Oskaloosa City Councils, as they needed unanimous support to amend the binding document. Mahaska County is currently considering legal options as how to proceed.
The documents are available for public review until May 10th. Written comments can be sent to:
South Central Regional Airport Agency
825 Broadway Street
Pella, IA 50219
OR
Scott Tener
Federal Aviation Adminstration, Rm 364
901 Locust Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
Electronic comments can be submitted at scraaiowa.com.
The proposed “Finding of No Signifcant Impact/Record of Decision” document is available here, and the full environmental assessment is available here.
Copies of the proposed FONSI/ROD and Final Draft EA are also located at:
• Pella Public Library (603 Main Street-Pella, IA.)
• Oskaloosa Public Library (301 South Market Street-Oskaloosa, IA.)
• Pella City hall (825 Broadway Street-Pella, IA.)
• Mahaska County Court House (106 South 1st Street-Oskaloosa, IA.)
• SCRAA Website: www.scraaiowa.com
• City of Pella Website: www.cityofpella.com
• City of Oskaloosa Website: www.oskaloosaiowa.org