The Killeen City Council is considering developing a master plan for Skylark Field to aid in guiding the facility’s transition from a commercial service airport to a general aviation airport.
According to city documents, in 2002 the city adopted a joint master plan for Skylark Field and Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport, which opened in 2004. In 2008, the city completed an airport layout plan update and a terminal area master plan for the Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport, but no planning initiatives have been made in regard to Skylark.
“The airport master plan is the guide for airport planning,” said Matt Van Valkenburgh, director of aviation. “Basically, it provides us with a short-, mid- and long-term planning document by which we can identify the opportunities for an airport, a financial planning process for the airport. Literally, it’s developing a potential business plan as well as any of the needs that we have.”
Since the 2002 joint plan, Skylark Field has undergone several changes making executing a new plan necessary, Van Valkenburgh said. In that period the facility has transitioned from commercial service to general aviation, two additional hangars were constructed, the airport installed a new runway and taxiway lighting, and sold airport-owned land. The Rosewood Drive projects and the development of neighboring properties’ impacts on the facility also need to be addressed.
Van Valkenburgh said the master plan will “lay all of that out.”
According to city documents, the master plan is eligible for Federal Aviation Administration entitlement funding, which is issued through the Texas Department of Transportation’s aviation division.
Van Valkenburgh said the facility, through fiscal year 2014, accumulated about $300,000 in entitlement funds that can be applied to developing a master plan. The FAA grant will fund 90 percent of the proposed plan. The city will fund 10 percent of the estimated $400,000 to complete the plan.
The council will vote on whether to proceed at its Tuesday regular meeting.
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