State to take control of city airport

The state of Montana is expected to take over ownership of the Whitefish Airport.

The Flathead Municipal Airport Authority board July 12 voted unanimously to begin the process of returning the turf airstrip to the state Department of Transportation.

“This will benefit aviation in Whitefish,” said board member Henry Galpin.

“They’re professionals,” added board member Curt McIntyre. “They can do a better job there than we have.”

The airport authority owns and operates the Whitefish Airport along with Glacier Park International Airport. In recent months, talk has centered around passing the airport back to the state, which originally owned the airport until it turned it over to Flathead County. The Whitefish Airport opened in 1964.

The state Department of Transportation includes an aeronautics division that is responsible for maintenance of airports and various components of airport infrastructure. The state owns and operates 15 airports around the state.

Airport Authority Chairman Dennis Beams noted that the authority’s mission is to operate GPI, which announced recently it broke its all-time record for June passengers this year, its fifth single-month record so far in 2016.

“We’re not talking about closing the [Whitefish] airport, he said. “The Whitefish Airport is a distraction for GPI — we broke another record for traffic. It’s better to turn back management [of Whitefish] to the state.”

Debbie Alke, administrator of the aeronautics division of MDT, said the state would be willing to take over operations at Whitefish.

“If the airport authority relinquishes ownership, we would be willing to operate it,” she said. “There is still some details to work out. We would be looking for local community input in that regard.”

Alke said the state may look to create a deal with the city of Whitefish or volunteers to mow the airport. She pointed to the Seeley Lake airport as an example of where volunteers maintain the turf for the airstrip, noting the state aeronautic division doesn’t have the resources to send a staff member from Helena for mowing.

“We’re confident we can work something out for the mowing,” she said.

Alke estimated that a full transfer of the airport ownership could take up to six months. She said the deed would have to be transferred and a survey of the property completed.

The Whitefish Airport has been closed this summer after damage was done to the turf during the Whitefish Ski Joring Championship races in January. Typically, it’s open seasonally from June to October.

“We want to manage it in concert with [the state] until we decide it’s safe to open,” Beams said, or until the transfer is complete.

During the skijoring event, skiers are pulled by a horse and rider around a slalom course. This year’s event damaged the field, reportedly leaving 6- to- 8-inch holes in the turf.

Skijoring organizers said they would be willing to repair the field as they’ve done in past years.

However, the airport authority board in May decided that skijoring would no longer be allowed at the airport after it was discovered that a clause in the ownership agreement only allows for use of the property for aviation purposes.

“Skijoring went well until last year,” Beams said. “The original agreement says use is exclusively for aviation and we felt the language was unbendable.”

Beams asked if there is any flexibility for non-aviation activities at other state-owned airports.

“Yes,” Alke said. “We have other airports that are closed in winter to airplanes that have non-airport related events.”

The West Yellowstone Airport in winter holds snowmobile races.

Skijoring organizer Scott Ping has said the Whitefish skijoring races have found an alternative location for next year’s event and plan to relocate to the 17 acres to the south of the airport on private property.