Jeffersonville's Moore vetoes Clark County Regional Airport project funding

Although a resolution to help fund the match with $400,000 was passed by the Jeffersonville City Council last week, Moore cited city projects such as the widening of Holman Lane —estimated at $8.2 million — and a hundred-year-old sewer system as taking precedence over helping the airport.

“My veto has absolutely nothing to do with the airport,” Moore said at a news conference at city hall. “My veto is because these dollars need to be committed and used in Jeffersonville. We have infrastructure problems here we need to address.”

He said the roadway has about 19,000 travelers a day, and needs more than two lanes to handle the traffic flow.

“One of the long-standing problems Jeffersonville has had, for at least 15 years, is the traffic congestion and snarls on Holman Lane,” Moore said.

He said the council's vote was “a little bit of a surprise” to him, and he said he didn't hear any legitimate reasons for voting for the airport funding from council members at the meeting.

The council will have the opportunity to override the veto at its next meeting Monday. It would require two-third vote, or six council members, voting against the veto. In the original vote, it was a 5-3 vote with Ed Zastawny, Matt Owen, Scott Hawkins, Nathan Samuel and Josh Rodriquez in favor of the funding. Council members Dustin White, Scottie Maples and Lisa Gill were in opposition.

Callie Jahn was absent and could be a deciding factor on whether it is overridden, if everyone keeps their votes.

“My hope is that they will rethink their stance,” Moore said. “The problems in Jeffersonville come first.”

Council Vice President Dustin White was the only council member present at the mayor's announcement, and he said he hadn't taken an assessment of how the votes might go Monday.

“I haven't taken a poll from the other council members to see how they're going to vote, should there be a veto,” he said. “Now that that's become a reality, probably we'll have some sense by the end of the week of what's going to happen.”

What's needed to complete the $20 million runway extension project — about half of which is done — is a local match of $750,000, or 7.5 percent of the $10 million installment of the Federal Aviation Administration grant. The completed project would add 1,500 feet to the runway, putting it at 7,000 — longer than the longest runway at Chicago Midway.

Airport officials previously approached the Clark County Commissioners and Clark County Council ago to request assistance with funding. They were told to ask other municipalities in the county and see what everyone could work out together.

The numbers that were requested — $400,000 from Jeffersonville, $100,000 from Clarksville, $200,000 from the county and $30,000 from Sellersburg — were based on the county's Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) percentages. Sellersburg has denied the request and Clarksville approved funding several weeks ago.

The largest chunk of the funding is the the $400,000 from Jeffersonville that airport leaders say could make or break the project. The News and Tribune previously reported that Moore had considered vetoing the agreement if it had passed.

“He's a little short sighted, because he touts all this economic development,” Tom Galligan, South Central Regional Airport Authority President and former Jeffersonville mayor, said after the veto. “River Ridge [needs] a viable airport and we're trying to do that. That's how you're getting all the businesses up there because there's access to a lot of things. And the airport is one of them.

“[Moore] doesn't understand economic development. He's just reaping the benefits of everything that was sowed before and he doesn't know how to plant any new seeds so I don't expect anything less from him.”

The county recently received a one-time fund for transportation infrastructure, including aviation, from Indiana Senate Bill 67, to be distributed to municipalities. Of this, Jeffersonville received $4.6 million. But opponents of the airport funding say there are bigger problems that affect more residents, like the widening of Holman Lane, cited by Moore and several council members after the veto.

Councilman Scottie Maples, who voted against the resolution to fund the airport, said he took no issue with the mayor's veto.

“I can't tell you how it's going to go Monday — I can tell you how I voted and I voted against it,” Maples said. “As a District Four representative, I feel that money would benefit the citizens of my district a lot better than the airport.”

Clark County Commissioners President Jack Coffman said that the $200,000 discussed from the county was contingent upon Jeffersonville matching $400,000. He said before the veto Tuesday he had already put an airport funding discussion on this Thursday's commissioner's agenda.

“I think we should take action just so the airport knows where to go,” he said. “I don't know how it's going to go right now.”