The Maryville City Council spent considerable time discussing the Airport Capital Improvement Plan during its meeting Monday.
City Manager Ryan Heiland presented an annual review of the 2026-30 Airport CIP that was approved and submitted to the Missouri Department of Transportation. He said the projects within this plan are financed by non-primary entitlement funds.
“The first one is to construct the hangars,” Heiland said. “That is the hangar that is currently under construction out there, that is that 80-by-80-foot hangar…(The) total project estimate was $900,000 — that’s obviously overestimated. It actually came in around less than ($500,000 to $600,000).”
The next item of priority is the airport Master Plan Update, which Heiland said will hopefully be included in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. The total for this project is estimated at $550,000, but Heiland said the city won’t know its portion of the cost until after it goes out for bid. There are some federal matching and NPE fund options available to help finance this project.
The CIP hopes to tackle other issues before 2030, including reconstructing hangar entrances, fostering a snow removal equipment building and conducting an environmental assessment.
“We felt that the (Airport Advisory) Board wanted to leave the CIP as is, because we feel like after the Master Plan Update, we’ll have a better idea of what the future needs of the airport are,” Heiland said. “At that point, (we) would be able to adjust the project priority ranking, so to speak, and then be able to bring it back to City Council for consideration at that time.”
If the city desires to change any of the budget amounts, Heiland said all it would need to do is submit an amendment.
During the discussion, Councilwoman Erin Allen said she has heard talk surrounding the engineers at the hangar and asked Heiland to clarify them.
“I’m hearing that there’s some questions about…the engineer that’s being used, and the successful history of that with the current project we have going on, and maybe some pain points that we’ve had to resolve,” Allen said.
Heiland said the city has worked with Woolpert, Inc. for engineering services at the airport for many years and has navigated small difficulties along the way.
“Overall, I would say we have a really good experience with Woolpert,” Heiland said. “They’ve done a pretty good job. There are some issues with, I suppose, with any other kind of contract, and that you have to manage with communication and their staffing, turnover that we have to deal with that has created some challenges, especially on this hangar project, (that) has been a little difficult…but they have great access to MoDOT resources.”
Other City Council Business:
- It’s been a year since Maryville voters approved funding for the city’s new Water Treatment Plant. Heiland said during his City Manager report that bids opened for the plant Feb. 17. He said over 40 companies submitted bids, ranging from major packages to minor aspects of the project. These bids are being reviewed, and then the CMAR team will begin conducting interviews with potential bidders. Heiland said this process will take a couple of weeks to conclude. A Water Treatment Plant workshop was proposed for 5:30 p.m. March 16.
This story is brought to KXCV-KRNW by The Northwest Missourian, the campus newspaper of Northwest Missouri State University.