Dead-Tree Media Touts Burns & Mac New Single-Terminal Airport Sales Pitch

The answer to this question is ALWAYS . . . Taxpayers.

Take a look:

A new KCI Airport: Who pays for it?

Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO of engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, provides details on their proposal to replace Kansas City International Airport with a privately funded, $1 billion single-terminal version. The Kansas City Council is now studying the plan and could put it before voters in November.

Comments

  1. see, this is basically a done deal with the law firms only there to negotiate out the details.

    there is only feigned council pushback or demands. the council will push all responsibility off to the lawyers while hrrphiing in public that they demanded this orvthat, e.g., hiring local labor which is only logical anyway, keeping convenience a priority which will be too long tail to trace when it's gone, having more bathrooms which could be done much cheaper right now, and so on.

    the horse is outta the barn folks.

    maybe a public interest law firm could get a court to call for a rigorous bid process but such firms have their own agendas.

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  2. $$$$$ for all!

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  3. Nothing wrong with a private airport. They built one near Branson to compete with Springfield and it's doing well. The problem that exists here is that B&M are asking to install a private terminal at an existing airport thereby enjoying all of the existing infrastructure we call the airport without having to buy the land and build. Terminal buildings are a small part of an airport and this plan calls for all of those core functions of the airport to be granted to them and for all of the traffic that is not using the commercial terminal to pay for it.

    If B&M is serious, they out to buy some land and build an airport and the compete for the business. Asking Papa Sly to give them ours seems a bit greedy.

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  4. No chance this gets done. KCI is in the top 10% for quick check-in/departures in the country. Reknowned business travelers with more than 25,000 miles per years to big and small families yearly declare and are amazed at how fast and how convenient the KCI airport is.
    BUT SLY IS GOING TO "fix" IT!

    Deep conversations are still ongoing to make JCIA ( Johnson County International Airport) a reality. No one is reporting that Sky James has NOT been a part of it. Innovative transportation to and from JCIA will make it a top destination airport and give a merciless competitor to KCI.

    Should be fun to see who can outdo each other.

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  5. Competition is awesome. My dime is on the city that doesn't have a One Percent "stupid earnings" tax.

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  6. ^^^^ 8:55

    You are full of crap. The privately funded/owned Branson airport is a big failure which has failed to realize the profits it promised. They're down to only a few flights per day and are bleeding money.

    Google it before you post this dribble.

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  7. Put up a circus tent, put in a couple of porta-potties and repave the runways. Everything else is wasting money.

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  8. Save KCI!

    Vote against a billion-plus boondoggle for cronies.

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  9. As it originated, Southwest flew to smaller airports, e.g., Love Field in Dallas and Hobby in Houston.

    If Kansas could actually present such a possibility, that would be awesome.

    But NIMBY in Kansas, with middle-class families not wanting the tranquility of their neighborhoods disturbed, would seem an insurmountable obstacle.

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  10. KCI? The fix is in, do fuggeddaboutit.




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  11. Common sense would call for some remodeling of Terminal B, not building a $2 billion-dollar replacement.

    It's like throwing away good shoes and buying new ones instead of having the old ones re-soled.

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  12. 10:56 and others--great point few have talked about. If BigMac is only building a new terminal, what about the runways? Is that maintenance not included? So will KC taxpayers then be asked for another new tax to resurface and maintain the runways? The Control Tower remodel?

    And gosh, when might the City drop THAT bomb? June 16, the day after Burns & Mac jams through the contract and lands their deal!? So then Sly and Glorioso announce yet corrrupt vote on that tax increase? This time, with T-shirts: BigMac burger in the background.
    Copy:
    "Fly. Sly.
    Would you like runways and a
    control tower with your pork?"

    Another TDD special election, open only to herds of cattle within six blocks of KCI. How many cattle are registered to vote? Darn few, I'm guessin...and not a one carries their voter registration card on them. No pockets!!!

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  13. now the local newspaper is raising soft objections to the crony airport proposal.

    the problem is that $500,000 in legal fees are prepaid to fast track things and the secretly-arranged crony deal is way ahead.

    the council needs to take a deep breath and step back from a high-pressure sales pitch to rush into it, abandoning normal procedures, normal bidding, normal financing, normal transparency.

    most people don't think we need a new airport, so why would the council think we need to rush a secret deal to get a new airport a year earlier?

    by the way, if there is to be a public vote, a secret, crony deal won't help garnering a majority.

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  14. You idiots don't understand how things work. This deal is done and will progress through necessary approvals to a signing very quickly.

    Pretend opposition by the council and the newspaper, asking supposedly difficult questions, is largely for appearances.

    Don't waste your time looking for good government or other childish ideals.

    Go play golf or something, but don't walk your dog in KCMO.

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  15. Well, I sincerely hope that the folks who think the deal is in the bag still remember to vote on this issue. I'm going to the public hearing at the KCI Marriott on May 23 starting at 5:30 p.m. Naturally, this will be a show to tout the wonderfulness of B&M's plan, but I'm hoping to ask a few key questions, if it's allowed. Be there if you can.

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  16. (Pardon the coarse language below, but when I get angry it comes out.)

    Damn it, Dave Helling! Step up and tell the truth for a change!

    As soon as the term sheet for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was publicly released, high school and undergraduate students were capable of finding at least a dozen glaring problems, upon the first read-through of the terms.

    This preliminary agreement is a NON-STARTER!

    The Council doesn't need to squander up to $475,000 for outside legal counsel to tell them this is CRAP. My students will make a presentation to the Council for nothing more than lunch money.

    HOLY SHIT! Why does everything under Mayor James have to be so difficult? Any ethical attorney, and Mayor James too, should know that you take no action that broaches, or may even suggest, that you're acting in secret to reward those who've generously contributed to your political campaigns. Is it simply too much for Dave Helling and The Star to go through publicly available campaign contribution records and report that Sylvester James is joined at the hip with Burns and McDonnell? Apparently so! The Kansas City Star Editorial Board is a complete failure as an impartial public watchdog.

    The fact is that Mayor James is CORRUPT. He's trying desperately hard to quickly force this secretly negotiated no-bid billion(+) dollar unprecedented project through the Council, past the public, and into the hands of his buddies at Burns and McDonnell. They would have a guaranteed stream of income (millions annually) for at least 30 years, and likely much longer.

    KCMO would forfeit all their income from airport operations for 30 years or more, yet still have to pay off the existing debt and pay for ongoing operations and maintenance! It's a losing proposition as spelled out in the MOU.
    It's like this:
    you agree to give away your house for the next 30 years to Burns and McDonnell,
    you receive no rent from tenants, and agree to reimburse Burns and McDonnell for all months that the home is not fully leased at the market rate,
    but you still have to pay for home maintenance/repairs/utilities/lawn/snow removal/etc.,
    and in return, Burns and McDonnell agrees to build a new expanded garage onto the side of the house.
    WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?

    The MOU crafted in secret between Troy Schulte, Mayor James, and Burns and McDonnell is DEAD ON ARRIVAL for any person of average intelligence who read the terms. The Council should have rejected it outright.

    Damn it Helling! I know you live in Kansas, but pull your head out of your ass!

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  17. Tracy Thomas at 1:50 comment

    If this MOU goes through, Burns and McDonnell creates a legal subsidiary (Terminal Developer LLC) which exclusively contracts with Burns and McDonnell Engineering for the new terminal......AND ALL OTHER AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS FOR THE LIFE OF THE AGREEMENT (30-35 years or longer).

    TALK ABOUT NO-BID CRONY DEAL!! Burns and McDonnell gets to control ALL design, engineering, construction projects on the entire KCI (MCI) property, plus has veto power over any development which might draw sales away from their terminal. Prices for everything will go UP, UP, UP, because they have a monopoly sanctioned by a crony deal with the city. And they'll tack on an extra 1-percent sales tax to add insult to injury!

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  18. Local News Media who provides cover for Communist Mayor SLY JAMES and his communist cronies

    KCTV5
    KMBC TV9
    WDAF CH4
    KC STAR
    KC BUSINESS JOURNAL
    KCMO CITY COUNCIL
    JACKSON COUNTY LEGISLATURE BOARD

    CALL THOSE STATIONS REPORTERS who continue to provide cover & support this Degenerate communist scumbag Mayor Sly James

    Call the REPORTERS out on their bullshit as well as the TV Stations !!

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