Airport officials give report on upgrades at Willow Run Airport

Chad Newton, who has been Chief Executive Officer of Wayne County Airport Authority for three years, was among those giving a report on Willow Run Airport to the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees at its Zoom meeting on Feb. 16.
Newton is a longtime resident of Van Buren Township and a graduate of Belleville High School. VBT Treasurer Sharry Budd said he went to school with her sons and she has known him since he was a young man.
Hold said he was there to share what’s going on with Willow Run Airport. He said the airport is very old with old infrastructure and there’s a need for upgrading.
He said Sharry Budd is a longtime friend of his family and his heart is with VBT and BHS.
Bryant Holt, chief development official at Willow Run Airport, explained the modernization plan and said the FAA and MDOT have committed $57 million for the project with $30 million for infrastructure. He said VBT is aware of this because they are a part of it.
Holt said the changes will reduce operating costs by 2.5%.
He said the west side is taken over by the American Center for Mobility. It was decided the east side will be built up for the aeronautical industry. There is a new runway coming 2021.
Marques Thomey, director of business development and real estate, said he has been at the airport since 1999 and this is the most development he’s seen.
He told of six developments:
• AV Fuel and AV Flight, two hangars and possibly more;
• Odyssey expansion to existing hangar and possibly more;
• Great Lakes Water Authority pump station;
• Yankee Air Museum / Foush Aeronautics Center development;
• Coletta Air, three flight simulators for the heavy, wide-bodied aircraft; and
• Department of Homeland Security office inside an existing Odyssey hangar.
Holt said 2021 will be a banner year for growth and they plan to really promote the airport. He said they will landscape the east side of the airport headquarters.
He said they plan to bring in aircraft and then go to the FAA to seek funds for a new runway.
Trustee Reggie Miller asked how all this will affect the VBT traffic flow, asking if a traffic study was done. She said they are planning a recreation center and need to know about the traffic.
Holt said they are creating a new connector to I-94, driving the traffic away from VBT.
Trustee Miller also asked about noise and Holt said they are doing a Part 150 study for noise and the heavy-body planes would constitute noise content.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said a roundabout is planned for Tyler Road at Beck Road at the entrance to the airport.
Holt said they will be seeking state funding and this is the first phase and they are looking for $8.5 million grant for landscaping. Street lighting is possible, he said.
Supervisor McNamara asked about the T-hangars for the teenagers to use. He said Ann Arbor called for space here for T-hangars.
Thomey said they are planning for hangars for 80 aircraft and looking at 162 more, for small, passenger aircraft.
Holt said they plan to have rental cars at the airport so people can come to the township’s restaurants from the smaller aircraft.
“That’s where the money is,” Holt said.
“I’ve been watching the airport for 30 years and have never seen so much development,” Supervisor McNamara said. “I live in a flight path area and the old loud ones get me.”
“We’re going to bring in the big, new ones that are quieter,” Holt said.
In other business at the Feb. 16 meeting, the board:
• Went into a one-hour, closed-door session to discuss information from the attorney, with Trustee Donald Boynton recusing himself from the session because he is a property owner who might have a conflict of interest;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Harlan Davenport to the Construction Code Appeals Board with a term to expire Feb. 28, 2023;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Michael McGovern to the Construction Code Appeals Board with a term to expire Feb. 28, 2024;
• Approved the reappointment of Craig Atchinson, Chris Brown, and Dawn Chappell to the Downtown Development Authority with terms to expire March 9, 2025;
• Approved the 2021 Poverty Exemptions;
• Heard the announcement of the launch of the new VBT website, which was set for the next day, Feb. 17. It was described as “user-friendly and clean.” Alysha Albrecht and Ryan Nichols worked on the project and it was called “Alysha’s other baby” with the real baby due to be delivered Feb. 19. To demonstrate the website, Albrecht changed the text to French and then had trouble getting it back to English. They would work on that; and
• Approved the design of the proposed park signage designs. Now sign specifications will be developed and put out to bid in order to determine cost, budgets, and a multi-year phasing plan for the signs moving forward. The project will be brought back to the township board in order to prioritize how many signs are installed and where.