Planning commission gives nod to permit for runway

The city of Glencoe’s proposed taxi runway at the municipal airport was approved by the McLeod County Planning Advisory Commission May 27, and will now go to the McLeod County Board of Commissioners for final approval on June 16.
County Zoning Administrator Larry Gasow said that while the city owns the airport property, it is outside of the city limits.
“That puts it in our jurisdiction,” Gasow said.
The city was required to apply for a conditional use permit because it is grading and filling a floodplain area to accommodate the taxi runway.
Gasow said the city has purchased wetlands “bank” property to replace the floodplain area that will be removed as wetlands to accommodate the project.
Neighbor Curt Templin, a resident in Helen Township, asked about drainage from the runway. Les Engelmann, a supervisor on the Helen Town Board, also expressed concern about drainage. Both noted that there had been flooding issues in the area in recent years.
“You’re putting in three acres of blacktop, and it’s not going to absorb any water,” said Engelmann.
Shawn McMahon with Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH), the city’s consulting engineering firm, said the project includes an infiltration component that will hold run-off from the runway and slow down its drainage to Judicial Ditch 8.

For more, see the June 3 print edition of The Chronicle.