Bloomington-Normal airport plans upgrade
BLOOMINGTON - Screening and processing checked luggage at the Central Illinois Regional Airport could become faster and easier under a plan to install a high-speed baggage handling system at the terminal.
The proposal would include replacing the Explosive Detection Systems equipment in front of the ticket counter, relocating it behind the check-in area, and constructing a 12,000-square-foot addition to help accommodate the changes.
The screening equipment would be directly linked to conveyor belts behind the ticket counter, instead of being separate.
The project has an estimated price tag of $7 million to $8 million. About 50 percent would be financed through local bonds and the remainder through a Transportation Security Administration grant, said CIRA spokeswoman Fran Strebing.
Plans call for construction to begin next spring.
"This is going to create more efficiencies for the airlines, for handling the bags, for TSA to screen them," Strebing said Thursday.
The EDS equipment was installed in 2007. But growth in passenger traffic means the system can be congested and inefficient, Strebing said. Traffic for the first six months of the year - 284,311 - is up 7.4 percent from the same time in 2010.
The local bonds - $3.5 million to $4 million - are part of up to $6 million in bonds the airport authority wants to issue, primarily for facility improvements. In a second matter, the airport authority also wants to issue up to $4.5 million in bonds to refinance existing debt, primarily to save interest costs and create repayment flexibility.
The proposals will be discussed at a public hearing at 4:20 p.m. Thursday in the second floor conference room at the airport, 3201 CIRA Drive.
In addition to the baggage handling system, about $1 million of the proposed $6 million bond issue would be used for upgrades to the former Platinum Jet Center. The airport recently acquired the facility for a "very, very reasonable price," estimated at about 10 cents on the dollar, after the business shuttered in 2009, Strebing said. It will be primarily used to provide jet fuel to commercial and general aviation clients.
Another $500,000 would be set aside for unspecified future needs, she added.
Strebing said the proposal to issue up to $4.5 million in bonds to refinance existing bonds will have no effect on the airport’s tax rate. The current bonds were issued to finance construction of the terminal, which opened in 2001. Refinancing will allow the airport to save about $300,000 in annual interest costs.
Information on how the proposed $6 million bond issue could impact the tax rate was not available Thursday.
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Bond hearing
What Public hearing on bond proposals by Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority
When 4:20 p.m. Thursday
Where Second level mezzanine conference room, Central Illinois Regional Airport, 3201 CIRA Drive, Bloomington
CUTLINE:
PUB: The Pantagraph
PUB DATE: 20110805
Section: Money
EDITION: Main
QRKPAGE: 1
PAGE SLUG: C1
XMLFILE: 64898101.txt
DOC NAME: C01 080511 CIRA
CREATOR: