MONROE - Airport Board of Management members and hangar owners are hoping for happy news when the board meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 9 at the airport to discuss again the airport terminal construction project and a newly drafted lease agreement.

At their meeting June 26, board members came face-to-face with more than a dozen concerned hangar owners who got a glimpse of the city's proposed new lease agreement. The airport leases its ground in lot-sized chunks, with the stipulation that the renter builds a hangar on it and pays property taxes on that hangar.

The board had asked for the lease form to be updated to meet term-limit requirements of the state aeronautical bureau. Some of Monroe airport leases had open-ended terms, which the FFA said constitutes a "sale" of the land. The state said the lease term had to end before 30 years, and the aeronautics board recommended 20-year leases.

Without the term limits in their lease, the airport could lose its annual $150,000 federal and state funding.

But attending hangar owners and even a couple potential purchasers of current hangars wanted written into the leases clarifications that the city couldn't automatically take their hangars or gain access to them under a variety of conditions without advanced notification.

"The airport has no interest in owning hangars," said City Administrator Phil Rath, who serves as the airport manager. "It does us no good."

Hangar owners will have the option of renewing and signing another 30-year lease when their old leases expire; however, Rath said the contract will be re-written to reflect the concerns of the hangar owners and still protect the city's interests.

The airport board is also holding its breath over the collection of some much needed funding to proceed with construction of its new airport terminal.

The board found out in May that the three bids to build the 1,650-square-foot terminal were all about $200,000 above the anticipated cost of $600,000. An optional 350-square-foot community meeting room, estimated at additional $150,000, was bid at $134,000.

But Mike Gabor, an airport engineering specialist at the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics, said other communities could donate their unused, expiring funds to Monroe or exchange current funds for a similar future amount from Monroe. As of June 26, he had obtained $250,000 and was waiting to hear from two other communities. He still needed about $30,000.

The drafting engineer, Robert Wheat of Senektekt in Monroe, cut about $90,000 of construction cost out of the building plans. The slightly curved front wall and overhang will become straight. The earthen berm along the north wall will be eliminated, along with the related retaining walls. Precast walls will be constructed of materials other than originally intended. HVAC plumbing will be re-specified, and the water fountain will not have a bottle-filling option. The ceiling areas will appear less finished and more open. The building may also be raised to reduce excavation and prevent the basement from resting on the rock.

Plus, a high level "construction superintendent" will not have to be on site at all times. "Standard supervision ... will be acceptable," Wheat wrote in his alternate instructions.