Compensation hearing for Berdos held today

    The Washington County Compensation Commission held a hearing Tuesday morning to decide a compensation case. The City of Washington will acquire roughly 63 acres of land northwest of the airport for the purpose of extending the runway 750 feet farther northwest. That land is owned by John and Jan Berdo. The commission met to decide how much money the City owes the Berdos for taking the land.

    In February, the Washington City Council passed a resolution that established a fair market value for the land and the compensation owed to the Berdos. The resolution stated the property had been appraised at $2,246,000 before it was condemned, and $1,547,000 after condemnation. The resolution stated that the difference between those values, $699,000 is the appropriate compensation.

    The City?s attorney in the matter, Bob Goodwin of Ames, said the city must move the runway to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards that dictate how far a runway must be from a road.    

    Goodwin said that once the commission establishes the amount of compensation, the city will deposit the money at the sheriff?s office, and will be able to proceed with the runway extension. 

    The commission is made of six members, all appointed by the Washington County Board of Supervisors. The six members are Patty Elliott of Ainsworth, Keith Hora of Washington, Dean Edwards of Brighton, Keith Murphy of Washington, Greg Giardino of Washington and Molly Reeves of Kalona.

    At Tuesday?s hearing, Hora asked Airport Commission Chairman Mike Roe why the city would move the runway closer to town. Roe said the runway will remain a safe distance away from any building in town even after it is moved northwest.

    The Berdos? attorney, Chuck Meardon of Iowa City, asked Roe if the runway was being extended in anticipation of additional traffic or if it was simply to move the runway away from the Airport Road.

    ?We have no idea what the future holds for aviation in this county,? said Roe. ?It will never be a commercial airport, but we want to bring business here. We?d like to support agricultural operations.?

For more information on the Berdo hearing, see our Sept. 1 issue for further coverage.