The Shawano County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution and memorandum of understanding that will put the Shawano Airport in its rearview mirror in less than a year.
The county will transfer airport ownership and responsibility entirely to the city of Shawano effective Jan. 1, 2025, or upon final approval of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Aeronautics, whichever occurs first.
“In short, it’s pretty much that the county is out of the airport business, and the city is solely responsible for the airport,” Board Chairman Tom Kautza said.
Supervisor Jerry Erdmann said the move was a long time coming. The city and county have long shared airport operating expenses.
“The county really gets nothing out of the airport. So why should we be involved with it or have a liability hanging over our head when we get nothing out of it?” Erdmann said. “This should have taken place years ago, and I’m glad to see it’s in front of the board now.”
Supervisor Randy Young, whose district includes part of the city, disagreed that the county gets nothing from the airport.
“I think if a company like Aarrowcast, for example, uses the airport and it improves their business, if you have constituents in your area that work there, I think they directly benefit from that,” Young said. “If the company’s doing better because the airport’s there, I think the employees benefit from that.”
He is OK with the county contributing about $60,000-$65,000 each year, as well as around $30,000 for capital projects when necessary.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to put it off on the city,” Young said. “It seems to becoming a county against the city thing, and we all live in the same area. I think it’s kind of a raw deal for the people in the city.”
A fiscal note from Carrie Buntjer, county finance director, indicated the levy funding provided to the city for 2024 was $66,066. This was for operations and capital, and this is the anticipated amount of the levy transfer in 2025.
Young noted the airport is not within city limits, and he said everyone benefits from it. He said that just because city residents don’t directly benefit from county-sponsored programs or services in other areas doesn’t mean he or other supervisors should oppose them.
“We all vote for stuff that doesn’t benefit our people directly,” he said.
Kautza said it’s not an us versus them situation.
“I don’t look at this as the outlying areas of the county versus the city,” he said. “I look like it as … it’s dollars and cents. What do you get out of it for what it does? It’s a small handful that are using it, and I don’t believe it’s a good use of taxpayers’ money.”
Young said he’s met with Shawano Mayor Bruce Milavitz and City Administrator Eddie Sheppard about the airport.
“What they’ve said is they’re not jumping for joy to get it,” Young said, “but they don’t want it to go away. So, if they have to take it or it goes away, they’d be willing to take it.”
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
County Board leaving airport behind
