Lake in the Hills to lower hangar fees?
Lake in the Hills is poised to reduce its rental rates for hangars at its airport, which village officials hope will help promote the facility along with a new marketing plan.
The plan was developed by an 11-member team, including a couple of trustees, village staff members, and four airport tenants, and was presented to the committee of the whole Tuesday night. It includes ideas like offering more programs for people interested in aviation and establishing a restaurant at the airport, perhaps by partnering with a local eatery. It also points out shortcomings like limited parking and no viewing area for the public.
Trustees gave a preliminary nod to reducing rental rates for the village’s 19 hangars to $290 per month, from $378. This will apply to new tenants, as well as lease renewals. Right now, 12 hangars are vacant, including one whose tenant just left over the weekend, Airport Manager Manny Gomez said.
According to pilots, the village’s rates were overpriced, said Trustee Denise Barreto, a member of the planning team.
Trustee Stephen Harlfinger pointed out that plenty of discussions about how to improve the airport have taken place over the years.
“This thing was nothing more than a crop-duster airport for the majority of its existence. After it went into the hands of the village, it was developed more for small, more regional planes,” he said.
The village has owned the airport since 1982.
But no change comes without trying, Barreto said. “We need to work within our constraints, and we need to sell our assets,” she said.
The Lake in the Hills Airport, whose runway is only 3,800 feet long, will never be able to attract larger corporate jets like DuPage Airport, Chicago Executive Airport and Schaumburg Regional Airport, said Trustee Russ Ruzanski, also a member of the planning team. “Most pilots are instructed to pass up any airport that doesn’t have at least 4,000 feet, or even 5,000 feet in some cases,” he said.
The airport has many strengths, including a flight school and a full-service fixed base operator, said planning team member John Graham, of Algonquin, who owns one of the airport’s small hangars. There are about 50 privately owned hangars, he said. About 40,000 take offs and landings take place there every year.
“The airport is in a great location, on its way for a lot of destinations,” Graham said. Lake in Hills Village Administrator Gerald Sagona said that the airport gets more than $300,000 per year in revenues from hangar rentals and fuel sales percentages. Part of the revenues go toward covering projects funded by federal aviation grants, whose village portion recently increased from 2.5 to 5 percent, he said.
“It’s in the black, we make enough money out there to repair it, but not enough to maintain infrastructure or pay for grant projects,” he said.
The airport will host its first pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 24, as a way to promote the facility to the general public, Gomez said. The cost is $7 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under. The airport is at 8407 Pyott Road, about two miles north of the intersection with Algonquin Road.