In August, a company called Aerofinity prepared for Anderson’s Flagship Enterprise Center a feasibility study for a “replacement” airport in the southern portion of Madison County. The feasibility study, paid for by the town of Fishers, examines the possibility of the development of a new airport to replace the existing Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers and Anderson Municipal Airport.

The issue of the proposed airport has raised citizen voices of opposition among those who live in the area that the feasibility study targeted. It also played a role in the Anderson mayoral election, where challenger Kris Ockomon, who strongly opposed the airport, defeated incumbent Kevin Smith, who had spoken in favor of the study.

A subsequent editorial in The Herald Bulletin admonishing Ockomon for calling the airport “a dead issue” triggered an avalanche of letters to the editor. Most spoke strongly in opposition to the proposed airport.

The following series of questions and answers seeks to clarify why the feasibility study was done, what the proposed airport would be like and what its effect on nearby residents, existing airports and economic development would be.

Questions and Answers compiled by Neal McNamara and Steve Dick

of The Herald Bulletin

1. Is the proposed airport a dead issue?

For mayor-elect Kris Ockomon, the issue of a proposed airport in southern Madison County is dead for the City of Anderson.

“As far as the city is concerned, we don’t want to entertain or support the idea,” he said.

But that does not negate the possibility that another community may decide that an airport in southern Madison County is a good idea.

In fact, according to a source close to the proposed airport, more studies on the area will be conducted in 2008, including one assessing economic development possibilities.

Bordering communities, such as Pendleton or Lapel, could annex the land, which is located partly in Green Township and partly in Stony Creek Township. If a town annexed the land, town officials could then decide whether to build the airport.

Pendleton Town Council President Don Henderson says that he’s “undecided” on the issue. The town council, he said, cannot alone decide the airport issue.