Hiawatha City Commission ends effort to build airport

? City commissioners have voted to end a joint effort with nearby Sabetha to build the controversial Northeast Kansas Regional Airport.

“This airport has not found public favor almost since its inception,” said Mayor Leon Trant, who introduced the resolution to end the agreement.

Trant said the airport proposal was hindering economic growth.

Hiawatha and Sabetha officials entered into a 10-year agreement to jointly pursue the airport in May 1994. That agreement would have automatically renewed this year if neither moved to end it.

Hiawatha’s decision most likely means the issue is off the table. The measure passed on a 3-2 vote.

A Federal Aviation Administration study of the project was largely completed years ago. Brown County Commission had not supported the airport because of concerns the project would become a tax burden.

But members of the Airport Advisory Board, composed of representatives of both cities, were reluctant to cancel the project.

“It does remove options in the future for the city of Hiawatha,” said City Administrator Carl Slaugh, who said there could be renewed interest if the political or business climate changed.

Opponents of the project called the vote a step in the right direction.

“The need for (the airport) seems to diminish every year out here,” said Glenn Hennigan, whose farm near Sabetha is on the airport site.