Airport seeking TIF funds to upgrade water line

3-inch City of Madison water line that is “woefully inadequate” for a facility of that size.

File Photo

Madison Municipal Airport currently has 34 hangars on site — including one that also serves as a base of operations for a business — and the main thing standing in the way of additional private investment is apparently a lack of infrastructure in the water lines that serve the facility.

Airport Manager Brent Spry and Dick Goodman, president of the Madison Board of Aviation Commissioners, both addressed the city’s Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday asking for about $30,000 in support from the city’s Tax Increment Financing Fund that could pay off in millions based on potential growth and use of the airport.

According to Goodman, the airport — the hangars, the terminal building and fuel farm that was upgraded just months ago — are all served by a 3-inch City of Madison water line that is “woefully inadequate” for a facility of that size. Attracting new development, such as developing additional hangars, could prove difficult unless the airport’s water needs are better met.

Goodman said a 6-inch line — double the water flow and pressure of the existing line — would help solve that problem and the aviation board has quotes of $28,500, and $31,300 for a project to install a bigger line from Clifty Drive to the airport property, 3119 West IMS Lane.

The project is expected to not only spur a new wave of airport development with the construction of more hangars and operations but also provide improvements in airport safety over the current conditions. The airport, opened in May of 1964, is relied upon by several local industries and businesses and is responsible for millions of dollars in annual economic impact and up to 400 jobs by businesses that might otherwise not have located in Madison.