The Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport is at a pivotal point according to an aviation consultant for the City of Niles.

In a presentation to the city council Monday, Aviation Planning Manager Stephanie Ward told the council the airport is in jeopardy of losing federal funding if the city does not complete a necessary airport project in the near future.

The airport currently receives approximately $150,000 each year in federal and state funding for capital projects. The city only pays 5 percent of that money, making it a good investment for Niles.

However, Ward explained, the money comes with a few strings attached.

For instance, if the airport is to remain eligible for the funding, it must adhere to more than 30 federal grant assurances that include things like providing adequate runway maintenance and charging equitable rates and fees for users of the airport.

Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport is in compliance with all of the assurances, she said, except for one: the approaches to both of the airport’s two runways have obstructions in the form of tall trees found on properties near the approaches.

In order to solve the problem, Ward said the city would have to acquire the air space above those parcels, about 13 in all located near the intersection of Lake Street and Terminal Road, and Yankee Street and Carberry Road.

Those two areas fall in line with the approaches for the airport’s primary runway. The secondary runway is not being addressed at this time, Ward said, because it has not been the recipient of federal dollars.

What does this mean for the city?

Ward explained that the FAA requires airport sponsors like Niles to provide upfront costs for things like interviewing property owners and appraisals.

Ward estimates the city will need to pay about $200,000 for these things, which need to be done in 2015.

To make it more financially possible, Ward said the city could break up the project into two or three phases, meaning it would only have to pay a fraction of that $200,000 at a time.

The money, she said, would eventually be reimbursed 95 percent by the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of Aeronautics.

Joe Ray, the city’s director of public works, said there are some “ugly consequences” if the city chooses not to address the problem.

“This $150,000 we’ve been getting every year is due back to them if we throw our hands in the air so we need to go in there with a long range plan… hopefully they will see that our plan is reasonable and work with us,” he said.

The council told Ward it is committed to moving forward with the project, which would likely be done in phases and not use general fund dollars.

Ward said she would relay the council’s decision to the Office of Aeronautics this week in the hope that they would approve the plan and allow the Niles airport to continue receiving federal funding.

Niles’ airport houses 30 aircraft and has about 3,000 operations (takeoffs and landings) each year.

“We’ve seen that (operations) decline over the past few years, but that is a national trend,” Ward said. “Overall you still have a viable and economically feasible operation at the airport.”