McKinney City Council tables airport expansion grant request item

City of McKinney

McKinney Courier-Gazette
By Winston Henvey / Star Local Media
January 4, 2024

According to Council Member Geré Feltus, the city of McKinney needs to better communicate its plans for the McKinney National Airport with the public before continuing with a proposed expansion.

"I do think we need to do a better job in terms of educating the public on what is going on with the airport and our future plans," she said. "Once again, I feel like there is a disconnect between our residents and what council sees as a valuable asset to our city, and I don't think we've relayed that well."

At a Jan. 2 meeting, the McKinney City Council voted to indefinitely table an item requesting grant funding from the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Community Development Corporation to plan and design an expansion of the airport to the east.

The planning and design of the east side of the McKinney National Airport will determine what infrastructure and facilities are necessary to develop future general aviation and commercial passenger service aeronautical uses, according to the agenda item.

In May, a proposed bond referendum asked residents if they agreed to allow the city to issue general obligation bonds for $200 million to design, develop, construct, enlarge, improve and equip a commercial air service terminal at the city’s airport. After the bond was voted down, the city moved to explore other possibilities that do not include using property tax-backed debt to finance airport improvements.

According to the Tuesday agenda item, the proposed grants from the MEDC and MCDC would be funded by sales tax dollars, rather than property taxes.

Residents from McKinney, Fairview and Plano spoke on the item, raising concerns regarding ecology, noise and safety, economic vitality, how the airport improvements could affect taxes and the economic vitality of the airport.

Winston Henvey is the reporter for the Mesquite News, Allen American and Plano Star Courier. Email him with story suggestions at [email protected].