The next NOA meeting will be Thursday, August 14th, at 6:30 p.m., at the LaGrange Community Center. The center is located at 307 West Jefferson Street in LaGrange.
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss plans for NOA activities in the months of August and September. Please plan on attending this meeting; we still need a large number of volunteers this month for the petition drive.
It’s been almost two months since the Oldham County Airport Board last met. Unfortunately, nothing much was learned at their April 4th meeting. In fact, the airport board has taken no substantive action since February. They have made no apparent headway in securing the finances required to launch an economic impact study. There is no progress on an airport business plan. There has been no improvement in communications between the airport board and the citizens of Oldham County.
NOA continues to look at economic issues surrounding the construction of an airport. If you haven’t been to the NOA website in awhile, I would encourage you to at least read the Executive Summary of an article entitled, “The Announcement Effect of an Airport Expansion on Housing Prices. This study was conducted by the Bryan School of Business & Economics, University of North Carolina. The results of that study indicated that houses within a 2.5 mile radius of the Greensboro/Winston Salem airport declined approximately 9.2% with the announcement of building a 3rd runway. In the next 1.5 mile band, house prices declined about 5.7%. This occurred where there was already a very active airport! So, you certainly have reason to worry about when the Oldham County Airport Board will announce an airport site, and where it will be.
Meanwhile, in nearby Spencer County, the Fiscal Court heard the will of the people and has decided not to build an airport. In fact, they will introduce legislation on June 16th to formally dissolve the Spencer County Airport Board. I would highly recommend you take a look at the article written in the Spencer Magnet, “Airport Board Dissolved.” You can find it at www.spencermagnet.com. Click on the “headlines” tab.
More importantly, please visit www.kyfarms.org. Click on the GRA analysis link, and you will see another economic impact study that indicates a General Aviation airport is a losing proposition. It is my opinion that this analysis was also a critical factor in helping the Spencer County Fiscal Court make the right decision.
NOA has been in contact with GRA, Incorporated since March. While Oldham County has some unique issues to work through, NOA believes the results of a GRA study of a proposed airport in Oldham County would be similar to the findings in Spencer County—as well as the one done for Shelby County in 2005. However, it will take $8,000 – $10,000 in pledges before we can commission a study. Currently, NOA has received nearly $6,000 in pledges, so we are getting close. We are asking everyone to make an email pledge to: jpearsonnoa@yahoo.com. No money will be collected until we have enough to do the study. No pledge is too small, so please consider helping fund this important study!
We have a window of opportunity to commission an economic impact study from a highly respected firm that provides economic counsel to the transportation industry. While there is no guarantee that our Fiscal Court will listen to the GRA experts, we do know that our Fiscal Court has chosen not to listen to us.
Jim Pearson
NOA Executive Director
NOA Weblog 