Airport Committee Meeting

The minutes for the Iron County Ad Hoc Airport
Committee meeting of 3/10/2011 are posted at:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/110310-airport.pdf

This is a hot topic here in Iron County, Michigan.
We will keep our readers appraised as information
becomes available.

If suitable justification can be found to support
a new airport that presents it as more than a
convenience for a few businessmen then we
should all embrace it. At the moment it seems
unlikely the committee members can legitimately
make a valid case for county involvement.

In any event, there's no reason the businessmen
who would benefit the most cannot create their
own private airport. If a new airport is such a great
idea, then it should present a business opportunity
that can afford the businesspeople involved a viable
profit center.

If it is to be a money pit, Iron County needs to
steer clear. It would be interesting to see a written
justification for county involvement in the existing
airports that, absent a justification able to
withstand public scrutiny, should probably be
closed and sold off. The money currently spent
on behalf of a select few would be better spent
subsidizing badly needed public transportation
in Iron County.

Consider the absurdity of a county with a collapsing
economy and a collapsing population (estimated to
be smaller than 12,000) supporting two airports
with a third airport proposed.

Vilas County, Wisconsin, has recognized that the
largest part of their housing is occupied only for
part of the year. It would be interesting to know
how Iron County would fare if a similar census
were undertaken.

Bill Vajk