On July 7, 2015, the Marion Common Council met with board members of the Marion Municipal Airport and approved the action of constructing a new hangar at the Marion airport. The building will be a multi-functional space that will first be used for snow removal equipment, and possibly used as an airplane hangar in the future. The hanger will measure 42 foot by 80 foot, be steel-framed, and constructed by Morton Buildings. President of the Aviation Board, Jim McKinney, spoke with the Marion Common Council regarding the need for the new storage building. McKinney says “We are hoping to have the building up and running by this winter. It will be a heated building, and a lot of the equipment we use for snow removal, or general maintenance, is diesel operated. In order to keep the equipment in good shape we need to get it inside.”
Not only will the building be good for the upkeep of the airport’s equipment, but the financing of the building will be very taxpayer friendly. According to the Marion Aviation Board Attorney, Phil Stephenson, taxpayer money won’t be needed at all. “Five times so far in the past 22 years we have come before the council asking to borrow some additional funds,” says Stephenson, “those funds are never paid for through the budget, we have never involved tax dollars. The statute which we are guided by even prohibits the use of tax dollars.”
McKinney also informed the council of their excellent track record with past loans they’ve been given, and that they have money on hand to build the equipment building. McKinney also stated that the loan will allow them to save the money and use it for future Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funded projects.
“The Board of Aviation actually has the cash on hand right now to cover the costs of this building, but we have federal grants in the works at all times,” said McKinney. “We are anticipating the start of three different projects for next year, and we would like to keep this cash on hand to make sure we have enough seed money to cover our portion of any federal projects, and this loan will let us do that.”
As previously stated, Air Marion is hoping to have the building up and running by this winter. This building will be a great addition to the Marion Municipal Airport as it continues to grow and expand.
