Peterson Secures $3.6 Million for Willmar Airport Project

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn) today announced that he has secured $3.6 million for the relocation of the Willmar Airport that will allow the municipality to meet a 2005 completion date.

“The Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) and the State of Minnesota had fouled up the city’s effort to get this done by holding back money that should have come to the city,” Peterson said. “The State had no business getting involved in this and they certainly didn’t do anything to help us solve this problem.

“After city officials came to me about this I went to work with Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn) and we got the FAA to reconsider what they’d been doing. In the end we not only got them to provide funding for 2004, we also got a commitment from the FAA to fully fund this project and meet the city’s timelines,” Peterson said.

Without this funding the City of Willmar would have had to push this project into 2006, thereby increasing the overall costs. The additional funding secured by Congressman Peterson will be used to pave the runway and install lighting systems and allow the City to accelerate the overall project. The city will save approximately $4.9 million in additional expenses such as maintenance of the old airport, and lost agriculture production.

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