Airport Master Plan discussed

T-O Engineers held their second public meeting at the Hot Springs County Annex Building on February 25 to update on the Master Plan for the new county airport. All three commissioners were present along with a former commissioner, other participating members, and others who are pilots or users of the airport.

Traci Hodgins is the project manager of the aviation master plan and presented an hour-long slideshow giving the public a lot of data and showing the process of their methodologies that go into their planning. Also, it is a public meeting and they held a question-and-answer session at the end as they requested feedback from the local community to better help them.

Overall, there is the completion of the first four chapters of the master plan. First, was information about the airport and master plan in general, giving a high altitude look at what is involved. Second, was information or background of the socioeconomic overview of the master plan. Third was data about the airside and landside inventory of the airport. Fourth was a forecast of the airport and its potential aviation demand.

Hodgins noted that the funds for the airport do not come from taxes but are funded by the FAA. Also, funds for the airport are collected from users’ funds. 

In the socio-economic section of the presentation, Hodgins said the demand upon the airport or airports, in general, are often correlated with the local population. Research has shown that Hot Springs County’s population has decreased in the past 10 years and is projected to decrease further in the next 30 years.

Residents ages 10-49 are a lower percentage of the population, whereas residents ages 50-79 are significantly higher. Hot Springs County’s average income is slightly higher than other counties in the state, but overall when compared to the nation the county is lower.

Hodgins also discussed that Hot Springs County is a tourism draw because of the county’s unique features such as the hot springs, the state park and the Wind River Canyon. An increase in the economy can come from consumer spending.

In the airside and landside part of the presentation, Hodgins described how T-O Engineer’s study documented the physical conditions on the airport, such as on its soil and terrain, components, structures and pavements. They also factored in the wind and land use. Hodgin explained that land is protected, zoned and owned by Hot Springs County. Some of the more pricey elements are vehicles that provide snow removal or ground service equipment.

Hodgins also presented some FAA Forecast and Methodologies and its trend analysis. Their market share analysis is usually done in comparison with peer airports, but Hodgins said the FAA has more accurate data for larger airports and that Hot Springs County is much smaller and more difficult to discern. The FAA has a zero growth projection for Hot Springs County. Also, the fact that the study was done during the COVID pandemic, the data is most likely diminished and wouldn’t represent a normal situation. 

Another part of the forecast was the use of motion-activated cameras that would document both game and moving airplanes.

At the next public meeting, they will discuss facility requirements and discuss developments of alternative designs, specifically for medical evacuations and fire suppression. Hodgin said that T-O Engineers want to be in compliance and meet the needs of what users of the airport are saying.

During the questions and answers session, one local pilot said that the COVID situation invalidates all the data from the study because they can’t use it as a baseline. He also requested that there would be more windsocks in a different place so he can see them directly ahead and not the side. This would help him better understand the wind at the airport and help him decide which airstrip to use. 

Another local user brought up the need for utilities, such as water, in the case of an aircraft or hanger fire. Hodgin said that issue is a valid concern and will look into it. This other user also mentioned that there was a hanger promised and that it wasn’t there. Hodgins said that is also a high priority and will definitely be addressed.