Airport advisory commission undergoes officer changes amid master planning process
The master planning process at the Grand Marais/Cook County Airport has been slowly moving along.
The Grand Marais/Cook County airport began master planning discussions during the summer of 2022. Since then, progress has been gradual as the airport and engineering firm, RS&H, follow through with the necessary master plan steps. Since this spring, the airport has been waiting for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval of the draft aviation activity forecast results compiled and submitted by an engineering firm, RS&H.
The FAA states the purpose of the forecasts is to accurately predict future demand by developing assumptions from statistical (econometric) models that explain and incorporate emerging trends for the different segments of the industry. It is a requirement within the master planning process and needs FAA approval.
The results of the draft aviation forecast show that the Grand Marais/Cook County airport has 21 based aircraft, of which 20 are single-engine piston and 1 is a multi-engine piston. As the airport plans for the future, the forecast models an increase in diversity and growth across the fleet at the airport in the next twenty years. The airport is expected to see a 1.2 compound annual growth rate in activity over the next twenty years.
As of last week, the airport advisory commission is still waiting for FAA approval, according to John Barton, the chairman of the airport advisory commission. “They are working on it now,” he said. ”We’re going forward.”
As the airport waited for FAA approval, it continued with smaller master planning tasks such as archeological reports and wetland delineations. In addition, the commission plans for upcoming changes to airport advisory commission officers.
Three senior officers will leave the commission at the end of the year. John Barton, Tim Norman, and Stanley Tull have announced they are leaving the commission come Jan. Two of the three positions are slated to be filled by Matthew Schliep and Jordan Ekroot, leaving one position open. The airport advisory commission will discuss the change in officers during the Nov. 16 meeting at 5:30 p.m.
“So a lot of new blood on the airport advisory commission,” Barton said. “I think younger people are always nice to have around. So I think that’s good.”
Barton has served on the airport advisory board for nearly 16 years. He said he is looking forward to stepping back to enjoy traveling with his wife. “She would like to do some traveling that I haven’t done because of this.”
“We’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit in the last 15 years with the runway and the ordinances and minimum standards that we’ve been able to develop and so forth,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good trajectory right now. And I think that it’s good that younger people go on to be able to continue that process in the future.”
WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with John Barton, the chairman of the airport advisory commission, about the recent changes to the officers and for an update on the master plan. Audio from the interview is below.
Kalli Hawkins November 16, 2023
