Airport board reneges condemnation request

The airport board voted to remove a condemnation order that City Council approved in May, according to board chairman Bill Kirkman. Another council vote is necessary to officially revoke the order.

“We decided to tell them to kill that resolution,” Kirkman said. “We quite frankly didn’t feel like we had the funds available for something that we would probably not need for 15 years.”

The property is slated for a third runway in the airport’s 10- to 20-year master plan, and Kirkman said the airport has not scrapped those plans.

Delaying the acquisition, however, might cost the airport in the long run.

Landowner and Realtor Paul Sidio has divided the property into 10-acre residential tracts. Sidio acquired the property in March after outbidding the airport in a trustee sale. Sidio paid $325,000.

“We’re going to go ahead and start selling it now,” said Sidio, who owns Ozark Country Realty. “We are a little upset it took them six months to decide. Now we get to proceed with the marketing.”

Sidio said his company has sold two lots at approximately $50,000 each. The land has appraised for more than $650,000, according to Sidio.

Airport officials offered Sidio $325,000 in April. After he turned it down, City Council gave airport officials the go-ahead for condemnation in May. Sidio then lodged a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Kansas City Regional Office citing unlawful negotiating tactics. The FAA sent a letter to Springfield airport officials reminding them of federal regulations for public acquisitions, including current appraisals and good-faith negotiations, before condemnation.

An appraisal commissioned by the airport was never finished, Kirkman said.

“After looking at all the facts and our finances, we said we really can’t do it right now. So we said let’s back off so the current owner can do what they choose with the property,” Kirkman said. “We’ve got so many other things going on.”

Chief among them is naming a new airport director.

Kirkman said the search has narrowed from 30 resumes in July to five candidates from “all over the United States.” Interviews are scheduled for November.

Ongoing physical projects include the $147 million midfield terminal expansion, $10 million Ozark airport project and $110 million National Guard facility expansion.