Midland City Council Questions Making Moving the Airpark as a Priority

Midland Air Park on the Loop in northeast Midland has been a topic for city council lately, but Midland City Council is wondering if it should be a priority.

According to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, city council held a townhall for District 2 at the Martin Luther King, Jr Community Center in Midland on Thursday night July 1, 2021 to discuss the moving of the airpark and if it should be prioritized.

Back in April, city council decided to hire a engineering firm to conduct a study on moving the airpark and Mayor Patrick Payton also sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration to ask for advice on the move.

“It’s going to take a lot of money to move the airpark … to me the return on investment, I’m all about that,” said Michael Trost during the meeting Thursday night. “It’s going to take an awful long time to earn that back. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Trost brought up the estimated $150-200 million it will take to move the airpark which city council members are wanting to make the move to have more opportunities to develop the area.

Trost is waiting for more information before making a decision adding that it would probably take 25-30 years to get the return on the $150 million investment to move the airpark.

Residents at the townhall voiced concerns that the area would then be used for drilling which Trost denied that the move was intended for oil companies to use the land for drilling but did not say if that would or would not be happening on the site of the airpark.

This is an ongoing discussion so as we say in media, stay tuned.

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