You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM 97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with Alexander Field, Southwood County Airport Manager, Jeremy Sickler on Thursday, May 21st.
Thank you for joining me, Jeremy, to bring the community an update from the airport.
Glad to be here.
Thanks for coming.
So you were just approved for a grant, a $2.7 million grant.
If I'm correct, tell us how this came about.
Well, it's been a long time in the making that we've recognized that this building that's more than 50 years old was falling short of the needs of the users.
And there's always been a bit of a fantasy to make it into something bigger and better and greater, something that we could engage the community more with because we get a lot of people that come through to look at the aircraft that are parked on the apron or like coming and going.
So to engage the public to allow observation areas.
and modernize a building that's already, like I said, 50 years old.
So the systems, the communications capabilities of the building are well behind what we need.
So several iterations of the commission have gone through in my time here, and we've all agreed that, given that all the other development that's taking place out here, that the terminal building was kind of like the last major.
thing that we would like to do to provide a more modern experience for the users.
So there was a grant program through the Federal Aviation Administration that came out after COVID.
It was a COVID relief development grant program and we've just been kind of pursuing it for a couple years now and we
are happy to be or honored to be the first and the only general aviation airport in the state that secured one of those grants.
And so this will support comprehensive terminal modernization and the renovation project, which will enhance the user experience, improve community engagement, and strengthen the airport's long-term infrastructure.
What does that mean in layman's terms?
What will the actual work that will happen here?
Again, referring back to the age of the building, 50 years old.
So if you look around, there weren't as many things that needed electricity 50 years ago.
So we don't lack any outlets.
The windows are getting old.
The doors are getting old.
Even the decor and the facade looks old.
The building itself is in great physical condition.
It was a very well-built building even 50 years ago.
So we have a good structure to build upon.
But just cleaning up the way it looks,
cleaning, adding more modern features that folks that come in and they have multiple devices that they need to plug in, but only a handful of outlets around the whole building.
The one thing that we want, if we get everything we want, we would add a second story, which would be an observation area, a public gathering area.
We would need ADA access, so in short, an elevator to go from the basement floor to the ceiling or to the second floor.
So just like
Critical or critical a lot of you might say behind-the-scenes types of things, but then just freshening it up a little bit giving it a little more modern look
and is what's in the basement now
a Limited pilot lounge quiet area.
There's some communications stuff down there But again very dated back from when this was from the one with the building was built so it's just a few things up quiet and and
peaceful place for people to rest or get out of the commotion of the main level here.
And then there's a small kitchenette down there where sometimes flight crews will prepare catering for their next flight and their next flight out or something like that.
And is it ADA compliant now or?
It is not.
There's just one set of steps that gets you up and down to it.
So that would be part of what the federal grant would insist would be ADA compliance for both stories.
If with their
investment comes an expectation that we're going to follow their rules, one of which is ADA compliance.
What are the size of aircraft that are able to fly in and out of this airport now?
Well, there's a lot of ways to answer that question.
The airfield itself, the runway itself, could accommodate a 737.
The dimensions of the runway could support a 737.
What we get, we don't get any 737s.
We get all of the what I would consider the executive jet fleet or the private jet fleet.
So the biggest ones that we see out here are Gulf Streams, Global Express.
They're comparable to the same size planes that use the regional jets that fly in and out of the Mosini Airport.
So if you've ever flown in and out of Mosini Airport, you get on those planes that have 50 to 70 passengers on board.
those are the bigger planes that we see here.
Okay, so that you could accommodate that here.
Now let's talk about something we talked about a little bit beforehand, which is the the distance from here to Central Wisconsin Airport and and how that affects what you can do here.
As far as airline service, yeah, so we're within a near enough distance to three different commercial airports that
It's highly unlikely that an airline would consider our airport to be a reasonable location for them to set up their another base, being an hour from Mozambique, an hour and a half from Appleton, and an hour and a half from Madison.
It's very unlikely that an airline would consider us a viable location for another base.
OK, so people aren't going to jump on a plane here and hop over to Chicago to get to Florida?
No, unless they are in a private jet.
But this is a place where we're small.
I don't know plane models, but I know Cessna.
Is
that a small two-seater plane?
Yeah, the recreational single-engine, piston-driven aircraft, propeller aircraft, if you want to describe them.
Yes, we see a lot of that type of traffic here, and there's probably 50 or so of those types of planes that are based here.
Okay.
But one of the main things that is driving the growth here at Alexander Field is
Sand Valley.
Yeah.
So let's talk about that a little bit.
From the time that that opened in May of 2017, there has been exponential growth here.
Certainly, yeah.
Both in aircraft activity and our fuel sales, I guess, are the one thing that we, the one quantifiable metric that we have to demonstrate growth.
And our fuel sales has grown every year.
And then with this expansion,
How much did Alexander or how much did Sand Valley contribute to?
Do you think securing this grant the activity of?
Yeah, well, it's well known both in Madison and in DC what a huge economic impact Sand Valley has not just merely in the town of Rome or Adams County but spreading all throughout the region because those folks are doing a lot of shopping and entertainment not merely their Their clients but also their employees a employee
It's my understanding about 1,100 people last year was how many they employed during their peak season.
So all those 1,100 people are shopping in the area.
They're going to, you know, the establishments in the area.
So for as long as it's been there, our elected officials, both in Madison and in DC, have been well aware of its economic impact and have always been supportive of projects when we requested money for projects here.
all of those folks that have been elected in the area are certainly very supportive of them.
The money always comes through the FAA, but they have the opportunity or the ability to support them in their congressional channels.
I don't know exactly what that is, but whenever we've asked them for their support, they've always been very supportive of it.
And since 2016, now this is according to the press release,
Over 14 million has been invested in upgrades here.
Yes.
What were some of those investments?
Almost exclusively airfield upgrades.
New runways, taxiways, lighting, navigational aids, which are intended to make flying in and out if you're easier for the pilots.
We got a new fuel system.
We had an antiquated and low capacity fuel system.
So we would
it was actually quite common that we would get desperately low or even run out of fuel during busy days when there were planes out here that were asking for or needed fuel.
So got bigger fuel tanks and a more modernized pump system to move that fuel faster.
We also got a great big hanger that can accommodate even many of those biggest aircraft that I referred to earlier that many airports, very few airports, I would say in our state and certainly of our
of our size have a hangar that can accommodate those types of planes.
So yeah, a lot of infrastructure, a lot of things that make getting airplanes in and out of here easier and safer.
Well, let's pause here for a short moment to hear from our sponsors.
I'm Melissa Kay talking with Jeremy Sickler, the airport manager for Alexander Field Southwood County Airport, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
Welcome, you're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Alyssa Kay bringing you news in our community.
I've been speaking with Alexander Field Southwood County Airport Manager Jeremy Sickler and where we left off we were talking about the million, 2.7 million dollar grant for terminal modernization and renovation that was just awarded to the airport here.
We talked about some of the possible upgrades that
But there's only specific things that are allowed within that grant fund.
Can we let's dig into that a little bit?
Yeah.
So the federal funding comes with restrictions.
They'll only fund what they consider eligible portions of the project.
So the 2.7 million while it will be a great, a great starting point.
And if that's all we ever got, that would be a great, a great accomplishment for the airport.
But we're hoping to leverage that with
potential sponsorships and grants from other local philanthropic entities such as foundations that would get us to a goal of somewhere closer to six million dollars.
And that would be the price tag on the dream terminal building, I guess you might call it that.
And that sponsorship money would go toward more of the community oriented.
spaces and amenities, whether that be the second story observation area with the elevator that could get handicapped people, strollers up to that level.
Many of the other things that, like I said, just outside of the scope that the FAA would fund, we're hoping to pursue local sources for getting us between 2.7 and 6 million dollars.
Close that gap between 2.7 and 6 million dollars.
And do you feel that
It would be an investment that would help businesses in the community.
I
think the airport in general is a recognizable economic generator for the community.
I think what's more more more envisionable would be that this would be a welcoming opportunity and a welcoming place for the public that
strolls through, drives through, walks through, rides bicycles through just to observe aircraft happening out here to make it a more welcoming and accessible area for those folks that in the community they want to come out and catch a glimpse of aircraft activity right in their backyard.
Back to the economic impact specifically.
just generally having a better first impression and last impression of the community for these folks that are coming in and out of here from all over the country to go golfing.
I think there's a lot to be said about getting off of the plane and seeing a very nice facility and their experience starts here.
Most of their experience is at Sand Valley, but then their last impression is coming through here as well.
So the idea would be very nice if one of these wealthy golfers were to say that
It would be a place you'd like to come back and either live with their family or maybe even start a branch of their business here or there might be some business opportunity that they see here.
We'd like to think making that first impression would hopefully augment that decision.
And be a welcoming environment for them to feel like they would want to invest here.
Yeah.
You mentioned the arriving here and getting off the plane.
How do people get from the airport here out to Sand Valley?
Most of that is done, Sand Valley has established their own shuttle service.
There have been some entrepreneurs that also developed private shuttle services that are for higher kind of on demand.
But the vast majority of it, Sand Valley comes and picks up their clients and drops them back off.
There is limited, I hate to say it, I'm sure it's not, it's no secret that ground transportation in Wisconsin Rapids, whether it be Ubers and Lyfts or the,
the cab company, they're kind of limited in their capabilities and their staffing and their capacity.
So, Sand Valley has necessarily kind of picked up the majority of their own clientele here.
Do you see that as a possible area for expansion in the city?
I certainly do.
Unfortunately, it's very seasonal, so it doesn't have a good model for year-round.
If we had the same amount of traffic here,
all year that we do between May and October.
I think there'd be a great opportunity and there would probably already be better service provision if that were the case.
But I think the problem, like I said, is the dormancy in the winter and if somebody invests in that business.
really, they have to capture all of their revenue within six months of the year.
So that's the drawback we have.
Or have an alternate business model for the other half of the year.
Yeah.
And, you know, some of these shuttle services, they do pick up odds and ends, you know, concert charters or, you know, Badger games, Packer games, you know, Brewer games, things like that.
They try to do things like that to fill in those gaps in the off season.
It just doesn't seem to be something that's really taken off
yet.
Well, with this grant funding, when will some of the some of the planning and the design work has already been done?
When will construction start?
In 2027.
So it's funny.
We're having our scoping and kickoff meeting today while you mentioned and you're absolutely correct.
In anticipation of the grant, some of this stuff had to take place.
The planning and the design necessarily had to start taking place well before we were assured of the grant just because you
had to have a
plan.
That and the timeline, the grant having been dropped on Monday, we have to have all of the design work and the project bid out by the end of September this year.
So today we're having that scoping meeting, like I mentioned earlier, that will be the official kickoff of the project design phase.
But there have been, there's been about a month of preliminary or anticipated design work and planning already done.
So and then construction again further federal grants that the construction has to take place in 2027 okay,
well they bring an opportunity for the public to be involved in any of the the planning process or Give some feedback on possible plans.
Well, there's a there's an already established advisory committee for this it's made up primarily of users of the airport friends of the airport and Airport commissioners and myself so
You might, I might like to think that those, that group reflects the potential visions of many of the, you know, of the, of the community members, but directly, I would suggest if you have ideas, get them to your, your community's airport commissioner.
So there's one commissioner from Port Edwards, Nicosia, the city of Wisconsin Rapids and the town of Grand Rapids.
They would be the ones that might be able to, if there is a great idea that one
in the community, things they might have for this that the best way to relay that to the decision makers would be through their local elected officials.
And then as the project continues, will there be updates that you'll put out to the public?
Yes, there's a website just for the project.
And unfortunately, I don't have a citation for that specifically, but I can certainly pass that along to you if you haven't found it already.
That's a way for the public to keep their finger on the pulse of where the project is at.
which from now forth is going to be pretty fast paced.
So that project website will probably be changed quite regularly now over the next year and a half.
And then back to the same, reach out to your local elected officials and or
me.
And are people welcome to just drive by and see what's going on?
Oh, yeah.
But I would expect, especially if construction on this starts, I would expect to see even more traffic than we already do.
People driving through to check out the progress.
We might have changed traffic patterns through the area to accommodate that, but I would certainly expect that to be the case.
Well, I'm Melissa Kaye, and I've been speaking with Jeremy Sickler.
He is the airport manager here at Alexander Field, Southwood County Airport.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today, Jeremy.
Thanks for coming.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 AM, 975 FM WFHR.
