Aug. 11--JAMES CITY -- Should James City County get into the airport business?
That's the question to be answered by a public-ownership study that county supervisors are expected to approve early next week.
Six months after news broke that Jean and Larry Waltrip -- owners of the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport since it opened in 1970 -- want to retire, the county has chosen a consultant to investigate the cost and public benefit of a purchase by James City.
The study will be conducted by the national firm L. Robert Kimball & Associates. It will also investigate the demand for an airport at that location. A county staff memo notes that the land, assessed at more than $2.5 million, could be sold for other purposes.
The Waltrips have said they would like the airport to become publicly owned, but other people have disagreed.
Some residents have angrily cautioned officials for months over the tax base that would be lost if the county purchases the more than 125 acres in southern James City off College Creek.
The Federal Aviation Administration has granted about $165,000 for the study.
The Virginia Department of Aviation is reviewing the county's application for grant money and will likely respond after an Aug. 24 meeting of the Virginia Aviation Commission.
The $165,000-plus includes an expected $4,957 from the state Aviation Department and about $3,300 from James City.
The study will provide at least three avenues for public participation, officials said: a Web site, a public workshop toward the end of the process and the formation of a community airport committee, which will include residents.
County officials have said the likely price tag would probably necessitate a regional purchase, which would lead to the creation of an airport commission.
But because the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport serves only private planes, some leaders in James City and Williamsburg hope that a private citizen will buy the airport.
That is, unless the study shows a public benefit to keeping the local airport around.
James City supervisors are expected to vote for the study at a 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting.
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