BURBANK : City Sets Hearing on Airport Expansion

Deeply divided over the Burbank Airport’s plans to build a larger terminal, the Burbank City Council has agreed to hold a March 21 public hearing that is necessary to begin financing the multimillion-dollar project.

Airport officials want the council’s approval to issue $100 million in tax-exempt bonds to buy land for the new terminal. But under federal law, a public hearing is a required first step before Burbank council members or other elected officials can approve such action.

In a sign of how controversial the issue has become, council members argued among themselves over whether to hold the hearing as soon as possible or after May 1, when two new council members will take office.

A council majority made up of Mayor Bill Wiggins and Councilmen Bob Bowne and George Battey Jr. prevailed, setting in motion a chain of events that gives airport officials the chance they have been waiting for since 1983.

The airport’s nine-member operating board, known as the Airport Authority, hopes to triple the size of the 163,000-square-foot terminal and add five aircraft gates to the current 14 by the year 1998.

Tax-exempt bonds allow a public entity such as the Airport Authority to raise money more easily because investors can earn interest without having to pay federal or state income taxes.

For airport officials, that translates into a savings of as much as $30 million to $40 million in interest costs compared to taxable bonds, which carry higher interest rates but do no require the council’s approval before being issued.

“It’s in no one’s best interest if our traveling public has to incur that initial expense,” said airport controller Dios Marrero. “We’re trying to do this now to be able to demonstrate to prospective sellers (of the land) that we have the economic ability to pay for their property.”

Vice Mayor Dave Golonski, who sided with Councilwoman Susan Spanos against moving forward with the March 21 public hearing, argued in favor of delaying it until after May 1.

Virtually all 10 of the candidates vying to replace departing Councilmen Bowne and Battey have said they are highly skeptical of the airport’s expansion plans.