By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
The effort to locate and build an airport in Orange County moved forward last week with the appointment of a project director, even as opposition to the move is starting to get organized.
Kevin FitzGerald, executive associate dean for finance and administration in the UNC School of Medicine, was appointed by Chancellor Holden Thorp and School of Medicine Dean Bill Roper to lay the groundwork for a 15-member airport authority that will be charged with locating, constructing and managing a new airport.
In an interview Tuesday with The Citizen, FitzGerald said he expects appointments to the new board to be a critical early step. The authority was set up in the waning days of the recent session of the General Assembly. The legislation specifies that the airport be built in Orange County specifically to replace Horace Williams Aiport. UNC officials want to use the airport land for its Carolina North project.
Four members of the authority are to be appointed by the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees and four from the UNC Health Care system. In addition, three members are to be appointed by the Orange County Board of Commissioners, two members from municipalities within the county, one member by the Speaker of the North Carolina House and one member by the Senate president pro tempore.
FitzGerald said he expects the appointments’ process to be worked out over the next couple of months, culminating in a vote on recommendations by the UNC Board of Governors.
Designs, plans and a site for the airport have not been established, he said, except that the airport would be a general aviation airport as defined by the state Deportment of Transportation.
With concerns already being raised about where the airport would go, FitzGerald said no site has been selected, although he and others are aware of research in the past by the county and the university on possible location.
“We don’t have a site right now that we’ve identified,†he said. Since the authority is likely to seek federal funds for the airport, FitzGerald said the site-selection process will need to follow federal guidelines.
For now, he’s concentrating on how the authority will be set up and do business. “We want to make sure the mechanics are separate from the siting.â€
The “where†of the airport, which would have a minimum runway close to mile in length, is a concern among many members of the newly formed Orange County Voice, a group organizing in opposition to the authority. But for now, the group, originally called Concerned Citizens Against the Abuse of Eminent Domain, is concentrating on how the authority might do its work and whether a new airport is a wise use of tax dollars.
“We’re not pleased that the Legislature and UNC think it’s okay to bypass land-use and zoning rules in Orange County,†said Bonnie Hauser, a spokesperson for the group, which she says includes roughly a hundred members. By law, the authority would have the right to condemn land for the airport.
Hauser said she doesn’t understand why the state would want to spend an estimated $35 million to $60 million when the cost of setting up a new hangar at Raleigh Durham International Airport for university and medical school air operations would only cost around $2 million.
A new home for the health care system’s Medical Air operations was planned for RDU, but the idea met with strong opposition in the Legislature after pilots and doctors testified last year that statewide health care programs would suffer if they were based at RDU.
Fitzgerald said previously he expects it to take between five and 10 years to site and construct and airport.
He also acknowledged this week that Duke and UNC officials have discussed the airport.
In an email response to The Citizen Wednesday, Tallman Trask, Duke’s executive vice president, wrote that the two universities had discussed the airport, but it is not known yet whether Duke would be interested in using the airport.
Both men said the siting of the airport had not been discussed.
Duke, which owns Duke Forest, is the largest landowner in Orange County.
Asked whether any Duke Forest land is under consideration, Trask wrote that “as far as I know, no Duke land is under discussion.â€
Does this mean that the Horace Williams Airport will remain at its present location until a new airport is built in Orange County? I thought they were going to build a new hangar at RDU but apparently that’s not happening.
Does this mean that the Horace Williams Airport will remain at its present location until a new airport is built in Orange County? I thought they were going to build a new hangar at RDU but apparently that’s not happening. At any rate, I guess this means a five to ten year hiatus for Carolina North’s development.
A hanger is currently being constructed at RDU to relocate Horace Williams but it is being talked about as a “temporary” solution by the university. I’m not sure how an additional $35 – 60 million can be justified when we have three airports within about 30 minutes of Chapel Hill.
“A hanger is currently being constructed at RDU to relocate Horace Williams”
Mary,
A closer check of the facts will tell you that the awarding of the hangar construction contract has been delayed “indefinitely.”
This could mean that UNC is contemplating moving directly from HWA to a new airport in Orange County and bypassing the “temporary” solution entirely.
I cannot believe that UNC would condemn family land where people have lived all their life, spend close to, if not more than $60 million, when they already have an airport or could use an airport closer to Raliegh. Why not use an airport in conjunction with Duke as a combined effort? Use a combined resource as UNC and Duke have talked about doing in the past. With the economy like it is, why not share rather than see who can spend the most???? THis makes no sense to me.
My husband and I and two young boys live on ten acres in close proximity to one of the proposed Orange County Airport locations. We were alarmed to hear about the errant use of eminent domain by UNC to acquire land that is out of their jurisdiction. My family feels violated by this aggressive action. We looked long and hard before acquiring our property, and have raised our boys to love and respect the beauty of this area. We have intended to raise them with room to explore their peaceful environment, away from the crowding of Chapel Hill, where they can learn basic principles to preserve what they see around them–lessons to take with them as they grow into responsible adults. How ironic that we do not even have the fair opportunity to be involved in the development of our rural Orange County in a way that respects the residents! We built our home with love and hard work, and most importantly, have built lasting memories with our children living in this special rural place. Rubbing shoulders with an airport was not even on our “radar”, nor should it have been. If we have to move, we will have broken hearts and a significant financial setback.
This situation is truly the act of a corporate bully–namely UNC.