Debate Raged For 19 Months; Neighbors Concerned With Night Ops

It took months, and then it took hours... but all that counted in the end was the final vote.

A Wednesday night meeting by the Brevard County (FL) Commission lasted into the wee hours of Thursday morning, as supporters and critics made their cases in regards to a master plan for Valkaria Airport (X59.) When the vote was finally taken, though, at around 1:30 am... airport supporters won the victory, after 19 months of often heated debate.

Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the plan, which includes repaving two runways at the airport, building a new parallel taxiway, and adding hangars for up to 100 planes, among other much-needed changes.

"It stands to bring Valkaria Airport out of the stone age and into the present," said Dr. Russell Minton, a supporter of the plan and one of three former Tuskegee Airmen who attended the meeting.

The plan calls for $10 million in improvements, to be implemented in three phases over 19 years, according to Florida Today. The FAA will pay 95 percent of that cost, with the Florida Department of Transportation and revenues from the airport making up the balance.

• Listen To ANN's Talk With Valkaria Airport Proponent Mike Whaley Here

Critics of the plan accused proponents of ignoring neighbor concerns when the plan was written.

"It is time for a master plan, but it's time for a master plan for the people you have a responsibility to," local resident Jo Faden told commissioners.

Of particular concern to neighbors are the planned inclusion of an airport beacon, runway end lighting and a PAPI indicator, which critics are worried will attract more night flyers to the airport.

"I've been getting phone calls: 'If you build it, they will come,'" said Malabar Town Council member Bobbi Moccia, an opponent to the master plan.

Pilots who already use the airport counter those arguments, saying those safety improvements are needed. In fact, to appease concerns, a plan to include full runway night lighting was removed from the original master plan.

They also stress the smattering of improvements called for in the plan won't fundamentally change the character of the small airport.

"You're not going to attract a flight school, you're not going to attract an airline at that airport for a variety of reasons," Florida Tech airport management professor Dr. Ballard Barker, who authored the master plan, told the commission before the vote.

Opponents also questioned Florida Tech's involvement in drafting the plan. The school's flight training program reportedly provides the majority of traffic at X59.

"Did they not include something in their report that might harm or help FIT? We'll never know," Grant-Valkaria Mayor Del Yonts opined.

Airport Advisory Board President Milo Zonka called Yonts' thinly-veiled accusation "disgusting,"

FMI: www.brevardcounty.us/valkaria_airport/