Monmouth moving forward with hangar replacement, committing to water infrastructure addition

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The City of Monmouth is still awaiting word on federal approval to proceed with the rebuilding of the hangar at the Monmouth Municipal Airport.

The Monmouth City Council held a special meeting Monday night where aldermen learned that the city is still awaiting approval from both the Federal Aviation Administration and Illinois Department of Transportation Aviation, unfortunately, the process has not yet received attention from the appointed state bureaucrats who are responsible for the oversight.

City Administration would like to proceed with the project using insurance monies and then pursue federal reimbursement after the completion of the project.

City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher tells WGIL that there is some risk that the federal government won’t reimburse the city for the construction of a new hanger. But, Steinbrecher says that the insurance claim money is paying for the rebuilding.

“The thing is that we have the insurance settlement money, which will pay for it,” Steinbrecher said. “So… we would be doing it with or without the federal funding.”

Since the project qualifies for federal funding, the City will only need to cover the cost of a new hangar and a connection runway.

One stipulation of the construction is that the hangar will need to be built on the west end of the runway in order to be in accordance with the FAA-approved long-term airport layout plan. The former hangar had been located to the east of the runway.

The hangar will house 10 airplanes and will include an office or pilot lounge. The City must continue to have 10 planes based at the Monmouth airport in order to continue to receive federal funds to maintain the airport.

Aldermen on Monday night approved a resolution to authorize the local matching funds of a water infrastructure plan that would see a new production well, water treatment plant, and new elevated water storage tower constructed, primarily through Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants.

The authorization allows the city to contribute about 20 percent of the project’s budget from local water and sewer funds. No funds were released Monday, the resolution was just necessary to show the City’s commitment to the project for the grant application.

The project looks to be primarily funded by the DCEO’s Rebuild Illinois Grant, with funds of $5 million. An additional grant from the DCEO’s Regional Economic Development program would add another $2 million. A third grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Public Works and Economic Assistance program would add $2.5 million. Bringing the total funding for the project to $12 million.

This project is still in the earliest stages and dependent on the city securing those grants. Should Monmouth not receive 100 percent of the grants being applied for, the project will not continue.

The water infrastructure upgrade would exclusively benefit Smithfield Foods. According to Steinbrecher, Smithfield is planning an expansion and the estimated additional generation of 1.2 million gallons of water from a new water production plant would be directed to the food processor.

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