murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
I’m forwarding an email from Eric Strautman, the AOPA ASN rep for KGWS. It’s got a LOT of information for local pilots, as well as a cry for help from all of you dispersed across the state. Please have a read through and get back to me with any questions.
The biggest takeaway from the email is the last paragraph. The City of Glenwood has decided to do a usage study of the traffic at the airport, using game cameras attached to the fuel shed. Their plan is to show how little used the airport is, which would then justify council’s decision to close the airport. Please come visit Glenwood!!!! Tell all your friends, and have them tell their friends. There is a courtesy car, free bikes, great people about, awesome things to do in town, the list goes on. Not to mention it’s a great place for training students (so please tell all the CFI’s you know as well). Camping on the airfield is also allowed (so long as fire-fighting helos aren’t present), so whatever your reason - get in your plane and get to Glenwood Springs!
https://www.facebook.com/GWSairport/
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The Ballot Measure Petition to help protect the airport is coming along nicely, but everyone needs to make a last push to get as many signatures as possible. Stefanie Davis with Grand River has been doing a wonderful job updating and organizing our efforts. It is believed we already have the minimum, but the goal was to have over a thousand signatures. We absolutely don't want to fall short by 20 signatures or something stupid. Call your friends, acquaintances, business associates and ask if they have already signed a petition. I, and several others would even be willing to drive to someone's house to get their signature.
Petitions can be found at the Grand River Construction office.
[Unfortunately this is not an online petition....but if you're in the area please stop by. Glenwood Springs is one of the stops on the Colorado Pilots mountain course]
We would like to call another meeting next Thursday, July 22nd at the airport @ 6pm. That will be the last day to collect signatures. Tom Heuer has again graciously offered to let us use his hangar - Hangar E1 on the north end. We will finalize and notarize the petitions and make sure they are correct to turn in. We will also start discussing the next steps in making this a reality.
There are those of us who would rather just donate some money rather than going door to door or selling raffle tickets. To that end, there is an account set up at Alpine Bank under SOSA (Save our Special Airport) or you can drop a check off at Grand River Construction, at 817 Colorado Avenue, Suite 101. We will need to get the right messaging to make sure our change to the City's Charter passes, so we are hiring some professionals to help us do that. I had an interesting conversation with someone knowledgeable with what the people fighting us will be saying. He said the messaging will be "For the kids, don't let this pass." They will talk about how the airport is the playground for the 1%, sticking the average citizen with an enormous bill for the tunnel. If they can close the airport they will be promising playgrounds, soccer and softball fields and open space. It will also be safer for the kids at nearby Sopris Elementary and neighborhoods. I was informed that all the future development up 4 mile hinges on getting the new Bridge getting built and they see the airport as standing in the way, at least partially.
I also had a call from Josh Anderson, the Emergency Coordinator for Valley View Hospital. Josh asked if we could get a list of pilots willing to pick up a doctor or member of a team when needed when the canyons are closed. They are able to use Classic Air, but it would be a PR boom to say we've contributed to saving lives by ferrying medical personnel using KGWS. I would like someone to head this up and get a list of available pilots. Email me if you are interested and of course, we can talk more about this at the meeting.
The biggest takeaway from the email is the last paragraph. The City of Glenwood has decided to do a usage study of the traffic at the airport, using game cameras attached to the fuel shed. Their plan is to show how little used the airport is, which would then justify council’s decision to close the airport. Please come visit Glenwood!!!! Tell all your friends, and have them tell their friends. There is a courtesy car, free bikes, great people about, awesome things to do in town, the list goes on. Not to mention it’s a great place for training students (so please tell all the CFI’s you know as well). Camping on the airfield is also allowed (so long as fire-fighting helos aren’t present), so whatever your reason - get in your plane and get to Glenwood Springs!
https://www.facebook.com/GWSairport/
------------------
The Ballot Measure Petition to help protect the airport is coming along nicely, but everyone needs to make a last push to get as many signatures as possible. Stefanie Davis with Grand River has been doing a wonderful job updating and organizing our efforts. It is believed we already have the minimum, but the goal was to have over a thousand signatures. We absolutely don't want to fall short by 20 signatures or something stupid. Call your friends, acquaintances, business associates and ask if they have already signed a petition. I, and several others would even be willing to drive to someone's house to get their signature.
Petitions can be found at the Grand River Construction office.
[Unfortunately this is not an online petition....but if you're in the area please stop by. Glenwood Springs is one of the stops on the Colorado Pilots mountain course]
We would like to call another meeting next Thursday, July 22nd at the airport @ 6pm. That will be the last day to collect signatures. Tom Heuer has again graciously offered to let us use his hangar - Hangar E1 on the north end. We will finalize and notarize the petitions and make sure they are correct to turn in. We will also start discussing the next steps in making this a reality.
There are those of us who would rather just donate some money rather than going door to door or selling raffle tickets. To that end, there is an account set up at Alpine Bank under SOSA (Save our Special Airport) or you can drop a check off at Grand River Construction, at 817 Colorado Avenue, Suite 101. We will need to get the right messaging to make sure our change to the City's Charter passes, so we are hiring some professionals to help us do that. I had an interesting conversation with someone knowledgeable with what the people fighting us will be saying. He said the messaging will be "For the kids, don't let this pass." They will talk about how the airport is the playground for the 1%, sticking the average citizen with an enormous bill for the tunnel. If they can close the airport they will be promising playgrounds, soccer and softball fields and open space. It will also be safer for the kids at nearby Sopris Elementary and neighborhoods. I was informed that all the future development up 4 mile hinges on getting the new Bridge getting built and they see the airport as standing in the way, at least partially.
I also had a call from Josh Anderson, the Emergency Coordinator for Valley View Hospital. Josh asked if we could get a list of pilots willing to pick up a doctor or member of a team when needed when the canyons are closed. They are able to use Classic Air, but it would be a PR boom to say we've contributed to saving lives by ferrying medical personnel using KGWS. I would like someone to head this up and get a list of available pilots. Email me if you are interested and of course, we can talk more about this at the meeting.
