Columbia City Council Work Session - April 14, 2026: Airport Master Plan Update and Schedule Reorganization
Columbia City Council Work Session - April 14, 2026: Airport Master Plan Update and Schedule Reorganization
Note: The transcript indicates the meeting was called to order on April 13, 2026, but the provided metadata specifies April 14, 2026. This summary uses the mandated date of April 14, 2026.
The city council held a work session focused on an update to the Columbia Regional Airport Master Plan and a discussion of the council’s upcoming meeting schedule and staff reorganization. Airport Manager Mike Parks presented a comprehensive overview of the airport's growth, capital projects, funding, and proposed staffing changes. The council also addressed scheduling conflicts and set dates for future discussions.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were discussed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gary Thompson, member of the Airport Advisory Board, expressed support for the proposed restructuring, noting that the advisory board has long been concerned about workload and risk management, as the airport’s operations currently rely heavily on one person.
Discussion Items
- Airport Master Plan Update (Mike Parks): Parks reviewed the 2009 master plan and the current snapshot from 18 months ago. The FAA had forecast 176,000 enplanements by 2043, but the airport is on track to reach that figure in October 2026, with an estimated 200,000 enplanements for the year. New flights include Charlotte (starting May 21/22), Orlando (June 3), and Destin (June 5), plus an additional United Chicago route. Parks noted that the master plan is a snapshot and that real growth allows expediting projects like a fifth passenger boarding bridge.
- Capital Projects and Funding: Parks outlined a $100 million capital improvement plan over five years, with 90% federal funding (AIP). Entitlement funds are approximately $1.3 million per year plus $5.19 per enplanement. Projects include a glycol recovery facility, a passenger boarding bridge, an aircraft rescue firefighting station, a snow removal equipment building (which will kickstart south airfield development), and parking expansion.
- Glycol Compliance: Parks confirmed that the airport has had exceedances of oxygen depletion standards due to glycol, but is working with DNR on mitigation. The new glycol recovery facility will help contain and dispose of de-icing fluids.
- Rates and Charges Study: The airport is conducting a full review of rates and charges (last updated in 2008/2012) with the goal of becoming self-sustaining. Current ground lease rates ($0.08/sq ft) are far below comparable airports (e.g., Jefferson City at $0.24-$0.25). Landing fees ($0.62 per 1,000 lbs) are also low. The study is expected to be completed this fall, with adoption by early FY27.
- Staffing Restructuring: The city manager proposed creating a standalone Airport Department, adding an Airport Director, Deputy Director, Maintenance Supervisor, and three shuttle drivers. The current Airport Manager position would be eliminated, and some titles reassigned. The estimated full-year cost for the changes is $406,000; mid-year FY26 impact is about $125,000. The city manager noted the airport has grown beyond a division and needs dedicated leadership. Council requested benchmarking against similar airports.
- Council Scheduling and Meeting Capacity: The council discussed adjusting pre-council meetings to accommodate Planning & Zoning interviews, consultant presentations, revenue forecasting, and pension reports. Several meetings were rescheduled: May 4th and May 18th pre-councils will start at 4:30 PM for P&Z interviews; May 11th off-Monday will be used for revenue forecasting and utilities discussion instead of the usual personnel check-in; the personnel check-in will be moved to early July. The council also discussed the need for efficient meeting management and potential charter review cycles.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a work session for discussion and direction.
- The council directed staff to proceed with the proposed staffing restructuring and to present a formal ordinance for the new positions at a future meeting (likely end of May or early June).
- The council agreed to adjust the May 4th and May 18th pre-council meetings to start at 4:30 PM to allow time for Planning & Zoning interviews, and to use the May 11th off-Monday for revenue forecasting and utility revenues discussion.
- Staff will provide benchmarking data on other cities’ airport department structures and self-sufficiency levels before the next discussion.
- The council acknowledged the need for a charter review mechanism and will discuss it at the upcoming retreat.
- City Manager’s office will send updated meeting schedules, including adjustments for Councilmember absences and the July 6th meeting cancellation.
Meeting Transcript
All right, I'll go ahead and call our April 13th. April 13th, 2026. Um, Columbia City Council work session to order. Uh we have a couple of items on our agenda. The main one is our airport master plan and just an update and discussion around that. Um, and then the second is we have a bunch of different kind of like reorganizing of our own schedule of work sessions and things like that. And so staff wanted to make sure to have a touch point with us to do that. So without further ado, I'm assuming I'm kicking it over to the man of the hour, Mike Parks. Well, good evening. No pressure, no pressure. All right, I got PowerPoint to work, I think. So should be okay. Uh I'm Mike Parks, airport manager. I'm gonna have uh a few slides this evening, but generally uh happy to have a conversation about everything that's going on at the airport. And just really want to start out with the our purpose statement. I think was super important. The airport's purpose is to provide a safe, reliable and efficient air transportation to support regional economic growth and a connectivity for residents in mid-Missouri. We've done a lot uh over the years uh to make things better at the airport, but of course, the last year has probably grabbed more attention uh than it has in recent years. So with that this evening, my intent is really to review the master plan. I want to talk about the growth of the airport in transportation for passengers, talk about the history and then really what the outlook looks like, and uh and then also just the department structure and how we're currently staffed. So I'm gonna jump into the uh master plan. I I hope everybody had time to review the entire document since I gave it to you a week ago. But yeah, exactly. Exactly. So it is a an extremely comprehensive plan. Uh, and of course, we also put a link online to make it easy for everybody to have access to and to be able to look at. But generally, it's to continue modernizing the Columbia Regional Airport to offer a safe and accessible facility connecting mid-Missouri to the world. So the last master plan that we completed was in 2009. Uh we generally had accomplished all the work in that master plan from 2009. And so, really, the next steps were is a snapshot here about a year and a half ago when we began this master plan process was really a snapshot from that period on. So as I go through this uh in reviewing some of the the points from the executive summary, just keep in mind that this really was a snapshot a year and a half ago, and a lot's changed. And so that does make it a little bit challenging when it comes to master planning, of course. Uh, but it was a snapshot at that time. So with that, uh really the the whole point of this is is the growth of the airport, right? So we currently have flights to Chicago, Dallas, Denver. Uh we've got Charlotte starting uh the night of May 21st, first flight out May 22nd. And then we have the Orlando flight starting on June 3rd, and we have Destin starting on June 5th. So several uh several new flights, and ultimately this master plan was guided by the FAA. Uh they walk alongside us with our consultant to really determine what things have we accomplished over the last 10, 15, 20 years, and really what's that snapshot look like in the future for projects that we need to ensure that our airport is ready and safe for growth. Some of the projects that came out of the master plan, and I'll talk a lot more about projects that we've completed. Uh, of course, we're recently uh in front of you. We had the glycol recovery program uh and storage facility. Uh we had the pasture boarding bridge, the aircraft rescue firefighting is uh is a fire station that'll be built at the airport in future years. And then, of course, we had the what we call as the SRE building, uh snow removal equipment building that I'll talk about a little bit later. Uh that really is gonna be the kickstart for development on the south end of the airfield as well. And of course, uh that's grabbed a lot of attention is airport parking. So, not necessarily is every project in the master plan going to be federally uh funded. It really is again, it's what projects need to occur at the airport as we get certain thresholds and growth of the airport. So I I mentioned this snapshot a year and a half ago when we started the master plan, and I think this is uh this is something that I brought up uh about the passenger numbers at the airport. The FAA looking forward to 2044, uh projected us and approved a forecast of about 176,000 employments.
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