Des Moines airport officials plan to meet in closed session next week to consider whether to take legal action after the National Guard Bureau missed the July 1 extended deadline to submit plans for the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines.

The issue surrounds the military’s $1-a-year lease for 172 acres on the north end of the airport, an agreement that runs through 2060. The Federal Aviation Administration has told airport officials that they can no longer offer the military the nominal rent because the Guard removed the fighter jets that once were stationed there. The discount is only allowed when an aeronautical mission is present, and the current operations that involve reconnaissance, cybersecurity and remote drone operations don’t qualify.

The federal government had been covering firefighting expenses at the airport but stopped doing that when it pulled fighter jets from Des Moines last year, leaving the airport with more than $1 million in annual expenses.

Kevin Foley, airport executive director and general manager, said the airport has been waiting for the federal government to decide how much land it needs and to present an appraisal that would help the parties negotiate a market-rate rent that could run into millions of dollars per year. The July 1 deadline was the end of a 90-day extension, the latest in a series of delays spanning a couple of years.

Now, the board on July 14 will be presented with several options: continue negotiations with no immediate formal action, terminate the lease, or set a new deadline. Foley declined to disclose his recommendation before the board’s closed meeting.

Continue reading to learn how this affects the airport’s planned expansion and hangar expansion plans. Full Insider story >>>

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