City Council Faces Decision on Craig Runway Extension A Councilman for That Area Says He Wants the Project Removed.

By DAVID BAUERLEIN

The Jacksonville City Council will face another choice tonight about the extension of a runway at Craig Airport.

The Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s proposed list of work to be done at its airports over the next five years contains $10.5 million for environmental studies, design and construction of a longer runway at Craig Airport in Arlington.

City Councilman Bill Bishop, whose district contains neighborhoods in the vicinity of Craig Airport, said he will ask the council to remove the runway from the capital improvement program. The capital improvement program does not allocate money, but it sets the course for how City Hall and independent authorities will proceed with construction projects. The council approves a capital improvement program each year as part of the budget.

The aviation authority previously won support from the City Council’s Finance Committee for including the Craig Airport runway on the list.

Bishop said if the full council takes the same position, it would conflict with the city’s long-standing ban on a longer runway at Craig Airport.

“It would create confusion in the record, which is very important at this point,” Bishop said.

He said the city needs a consistent position on the runway because it’s likely the matter will end up in court someday. The aviation authority tried earlier this year to end the city’s restriction on the runway length. The authority withdrew its request in April after it appeared the council wouldn’t lift the ban.

The proposed capital improvement program shows $500,000 for an environmental study in the 2008-09 fiscal year, followed by $1 million for design the next year and $9 million for construction in the third year.

Aviation authority spokesman Michael Stewart said the capital improvement program is a planning document that doesn’t mandate extension of the runway. He said the aviation authority still must do various studies required by the Federal Aviation Administration before construction could start.

Asked whether the aviation authority can do the $500,000 environmental study this year if it’s not in the capital improvement program, he referred the question to the city’s General Counsel’s Office.

General Counsel Rick Mullaney said Monday it would be “inappropriate for me to comment at this time.”

The council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. today at City Hall, 117 W. Duval St.david.bauerlein@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4581

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