Call the FAA to check on the status of the airport aid money
the airport has gotten and what strings were attached. Does
a scheduled airline use the airport and will the closing of
the runway impact their operation or safety?

Call your Congressman, they put strings on Federal aid money
the FAA spends.

File a law suit for an injunction, the sudden closing
probably violated the public meetings law. File in both
state and federal courts, cite lack of public meetings,
proper notice, etc.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
| With little warning (and even less fanfare) Runways 18 and
36 have been
| closed
| at the Iowa City Municipal Airport -- forever. As of
this morning,
| for the
| first time since the 1930s, KIOW is a 2-runway airport.
|
| The VOR 36 approach is therefore currently unavailable.
According to
| Airport
| Specialist Mike Tharp, this approach will become a VOR
Alpha
| circle-to-land
| approach at some point in the future.
|
| This closure has been in the works for years (ever since
the Airport
| Commission
| decided to carve out the North and South Aviation Commerce
Parks, in a
| thus-far
| failed attempt to make the airport self-sufficient), but
the deal has
| always
| been that the Rwy 7/25 extension would be completed BEFORE
Rwy 18/36
| was
| closed.
|
| The current airport commission decided that this agreement
was not an
| issue of
| importance, and closed Rwy 18/36 with the Rwy 7/25
extension still over
| a year
| (at least) from completion. For decades, Rwy 36 was the
runway of
| choice for both
| United and Ozark airlines, and it will be strange, indeed,
to no longer
| see aircraft
| departing over downtown.
|
| A long sequence of decisions, made over a period of years,
has led us
| directly
| to today, and the loss of a critical piece of airport
infrastructure.
| Decisions
| like these have hurt each and every Iowa City Airport
user, and were
| made
| virtually behind closed doors by previous airport
commissions. If
| you've ever
| wondered why we formed the "Friends of Iowa City Airport"
advocacy
| group, and
| why FOICA members sacrifice their time each month to
attend Commission
| meetings, wonder no longer. Today, I'm proud to say, this
could not
| have
| happened without a major uproar in the pilot community.
Unfortunately,
| FOICA
| came too late to help save Rwy 18/36.
|
| Today is truly a sad day in Iowa City airport history, and
I can
| personally
| guarantee that when the winds are howling out of the
North, there will
| be many,
| many days in the future when we will wish we had that
runway back.
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|