By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Submitted July 2, 2008
The City of Mesquite moves a step closer this week in the process of relocating its airport to a new spot on the Mormon Mesa. The public comment period on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the FAA ends tomorrow, July 3. A public workshop and hearing, to discuss environmental impacts that the new airport might make on the area, was held in Mesquite City Hall on June 17. Attendance at the Mesquite hearing was reportedly very low. The City has submitted plans to the BLM and the FAA for a general aviation airport to be located 15 miles southwest of Mesquite, south of Interstate 15 on the Mormon Mesa. As part of an upcoming federal lands bill, the BLM would release 2,560 acres of land to the City of Mesquite for the proposed replacement airport, airport access roadway and other related infrastructure.
The proposed project would replace the current Mesquite airport to allow for increased traffic, additional use of business jet aircraft and future airport expansion. It calls for the construction and operation of a new 7500 feet-by-100 feet runway. The current airport runway is only 5100 feet long. Also included in the proposal is a full-length parallel taxi-way, all necessary airport lighting, an aircraft parking apron, an airport access road and the necessary aviation support facilities.
The draft EIS considered a wide variety of alternatives to the proposed project. These alternatives included: no action; use of other modes of transportation; use of supplemental airports in the region including Perkins Field in Overton; relocating the airport somewhere other than the Mormon Mesa; expanding the existing airport; construction of replacement airport on the Mormon Mesa and an additional airfield configuration at the Mormon Mesa site. The document was presented to Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB) members for the first time just prior to their meeting on Wednesday, June 25.
Board members expressed frustration that they had not been informed about the draft EIS until last week.
“This is part of the next federal take-down lands bill,” said Matt LaCroix, Clark County Northeast Rural Liaison. “It is the next phase of Mesquite’s migration west. It also ties in with Gold Butte National Conservation Area and a lot of other elements.”
LaCroix said that he had only heard about the EIS document from reading a recent article in a Las Vegas newspaper which reported the June 15 Mesquite hearing. After reading the article, LaCroix had requested that a copy of the document be sent to his office.
“This is really upsetting,” said MVTAB Chairwoman, Judy Metz. “We have sent letters and asked to be kept on the notification list on these issues. I went personally to all of those meetings [dealing with the airport] and I asked to be updated on the process. And this is the first time I am seeing this; after the hearing is all over and only a week before the public comment period ends.”
Despite the lateness of the hour, Metz stated that she intended to prepare a written response to the draft EIS in time for the July 3 deadline. Copies of the Draft EIS are available for review at the Clark County Northeast Office. Written comments must be postmarked by July 3.
