MORRIS – If all goes well in the next three weeks, plans to construct a second private corporate hangar at Morris Municipal Airport could get approved.
The Morris Airport Committee met Tuesday with Tim Applegate, who along with two partners comprise ATS hangar, to discuss plans for a hangar at the airport.
Applegate said the group has been working on plans for its private hangar for about six months.
The group submitted earlier this summer plans to the city without electrical, HVAC and plumbing designs.
As of Tuesday, the firm contracted by Applegate is in the process of submitting plans that include those three elements. Applegate said construction can begin as soon as they receive approval.
Applegate asked for a timetable on when the plans could get approved. Morris City Engineer Guy Christensen said he’ll have the boundary lines for the land parcel submitted to the city by the end of the week. If that happens, Morris Mayor Richard Kopczick said he hopes to have an appraisal of the property set up for next week.
It could be fairly similar to an appraisal done last month on the parcel of land designated for Rolf Helland’s potential hangar, but it still needs to follow the required order of operations, Kopczick said.
Helland’s project is considered a spearheading project by the city because it’s the first private hangar built at the airport in decades.
The land-lease agreement with Helland also is being drafted by the Morris City Attorney’s Office and may wind up looking similar to the Applegate project.
When the appraisal is completed, a request for a draft of a land-lease agreement would be sent to the city attorney. Assistant City Attorney Brad Nolden said another committee meeting as early as three weeks from now is possible, but a notice of proposed construction or alternation has to be submitted to the Federal Aviation Authority.
It can take three months for written approval, but airport manager Jeff Vogen said it’s OK to proceed with a verbal go-ahead.
In other news, Vogen said the foundation work for the extension of the runway is near competition and asphalt could be poured as early as next week.
http://www.morrisherald-news.com/2015/08/11/morris-airport-committee-talks-second-private-hangar/al4a2nw/