Two projects for airport cleared for takeoff

Greg Schildberg with the Iowa Aviation Museum made two requests regarding the aiport Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that the Greenfield City Council acted on during their Tuesday, Nov. 12 meeting.

After discussing the matters with the airport’s engineer, Schildberg asked that the council approve an automated fuel terminal at the airport for fiscal year 2025. City Clerk Laura Benton told the newspaper later that the project is authorized to happen this year.

The Iowa Aviation Museum will provide matching funds for the projects and the city will not provide any matching funds.

“I’m going to donate the funds to the Iowa Aviation Museum, as a 501c3, and they will then donate the money to the city for that cost only, so there would be no cost to the city,” Schildberg said.

Schildberg also asked for a water line from the edge of the airport to the rest of the airport in FY 2026 to be placed in the CIP.

A 6-inch water line has been planned by Greenfield Municipal Utilities officials that would carry water from the city to the airport property, paid for, in part, by a $100,000 commitment by GMU.

While the Federal Aviation Administration won’t pay for the water line between Greenfield and the airport, there is funding that can be applied for to pay for the line on airport property.

“He’s estimating at least $100,000 with a minimum of three fire hydrants,” Schildberg said. “That $100,000 is a 5% match and I would do the exact same thing with that — I would pay the matching fee in order to have fire protection and water on the property.”

A CIP is a document that helps identify and prioritize airport development needs. It is a planning tool for developing, maintaining or expanding an airport.

In other business, the council:

• held a public hearing and adopted the Restated Urban Revitaliation Plan for the Greenfield Urban Revitalization Area

• approved JEO’s scope and fee for fire station rebuild

• received a sponsored project update from Jennifer Erbes from Soil Water and Conservation District

• decided to submit to insurance a service bill Luke Daughenbaugh had for a property with a sewer line issue and decided to cease locating private lines to lessen liability

• approved a pay request for the downtown revitalization project

• received a FEMA update from Emergency Management Coordinator Jeremy Cooper, including a bid from Redman Construction for reshaping and reseeding an area of the fairgrounds where a debris pile was

• approved the purchase of a 2024 Bandit stump grinder costing $73,500

• authorized the mayor to sign a Greater Greenfield Community Foundation gap funding request

• approved bids relating to the metal building next to the old fire station