Palmer’s future can take flight with new plan

Palmer city officials are going down the right runway with their efforts to refuel the city’s Municipal Airport Master Plan.

City council and the Palmer Airport Advisory Committee meet tonight to discuss how to give the master plan a makeover. It’s at 6 p.m. at Palmer City Hall and promises to be the first of many public meetings.

We are especially pleased to see some of the goals Palmer wants to accomplish with its new airport master plan. One goal in particular, economic development, is especially forward-thinking. Transportation is one of the unique and more difficult challenges any growing community must take on. While those issues in the public eye focus mainly on the roadways we drive every day, an airport can be one of the single-biggest contributors to a city’s economy. Palmer has a unique opportunity in that its airport is also a viable mode of everyday transportation to Anchorage.

Stimulating an economy that’s more diverse than being solely reliant upon sales tax revenues is something a forward-thinking master plan can do. Creating such a document for local airports can be crucial for our growing smaller communities.

Not only does the airport provide another transportation alternative to those who work in Anchorage and make Palmer and the surrounding area their home, it can also be a deal-clinching asset in attracting aviation-related industry and businesses to the area. These typically are high-paying jobs filled by those who also contribute to a community through volunteer efforts and charitable giving.

We realize that Palmer, Alaska, may not be the first, second or even 10th choice for many aviation-related companies, but if planned and guided down the runway correctly, it could be attractive for smaller mechanical and engineering companies that value access to a first-rate airfield. As with other indicators, a healthy, vibrant airport and surrounding industry is a gauge of a community’s health.

We support Palmer City Council and all Valley municipalities in creating and maintaining airport facilities that will flourish over the next decades as well as the Valley has these past 20 years. Sometimes it pays to have your head in the clouds.