co I n 0 /4

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LEASING OF CLARIN DA, IOWA, AIRPORT P R O P E R T Y

GOVERNMENT

Storage

H E A R I N G

BEF ORE THE

SUBCOM MITTEE ON TRA NSPOR TATIO N 

AND AERONAUTICS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

INTERS TAT E AND FOREIGN COMMERCE 

HOUSE OF REPRESE NTATIVE S

= □

EIG HT Y-NINT H CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 10700

A BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE 

FEDERAL AVIATION AGENCY TO RELEASE RESTRICTIONS 

ON THE USE OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY CONVEYED TO 

THE CITY OF CLARINDA, IOWA, FOR AIRPORT PURPOSES

<

SEPT EM BER 27, 1!R5G

Printed for the use of the Committee on Intersta te and Foreign Commerce

Serial No. 89-47

19-347

U.S . GO VE RN ME NT PR IN TIN G O FFIC E 

WA SH INGT ON : 1966
M n.r.

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE

H A R L E Y O. ST AGGERS, West Virginia, Chairman

W IL LI AM L. SP RIN GER, Illinois 

J. A R TH U R YO U N GER, California 

SA M U EL L. DEVIN E, Ohio 

A N CH E R N ELS EN, Minnesota 

H AS TI NGS KEIT H , Massachusetts 

W IL LA RD S. C U RTIN , Pennsylvania 

GL ENN CU N NIN GH AM , Nebraska 

JA M ES T. BROYH IL L, North Carolina 

JA M ES H A R V EY, Michigan 

A L B E R T W. WAT SO N, South Carolina 

TI M LEE CA R TE R , Ken tucky

W ALTE R RO GE RS , Texas 

SA M UEL N. FR IE D E L, Maryland 

T O R B E R T H. M ACD ON ALD, Massachusetts 

JOHN JA RM AN , Oklahoma 

LEO W. O’ BRIE N, New York 

JOHN E. MO SS, California 

JOHN D. D IN G ELL, Michigan 

PAU L G. RO GE RS , Florida 

HORA CE R. K O R N EO AY, North Carolina 

LI ON EL VA N D EER LIN , California 

J. J. P IC K LE , Texas

FRED B. RO ONEY , Pennsylvania 

JOHN M. M U RPH Y, New York 

DAVI D E. S A T T E R FIE LD III, Virginia 

D A N IE L J. RO NA N, Illinois 

J. O LI VA HUO T, New Hampshire 

JA MES A. M A CK A Y , Georgia 

JOHN J. GIL LI G AN , Ohio 

CH A R LES P . FA R N SLE Y, Kentuck y 

JOHN B E L L W IL LI AM S. Mississippi 

BR O CK A DAM S, Washington

W. E. Williamson, Clerk

Kenneth J. P ainter, Ass istant Clerk

Prcjeseional S ta ff

Andrew Stevenson

Kurt B orchardt

J ames M. Meng er, Jr. 

William J. Dixon

Su b c o m m it tee on T r a n spo r ta tio n an d A er o n a u tic s

SA M U EL N. F R IE D E L, Marylan d, Chairman

JOHN D. D IN G ELL, Michigan 

J. J. P IC K LE , Texas 

D A N IE L J. RO NA N, Illinois 

J. OL IV A HUO T, New Hampshire 

JOHN B E LL W IL LI AM S, Mississippi

n

SA M U EL L. DEVIN E, Ohio 

GLE NN CU N NIN GH AM , Nebraska 

A L B E R T W. W AT SO N, South Carolina
C O N T E N T S

CO <-< cu

Pagp

Tex t of H.R. 10700______________________________________________ 1

Report of—

Bureau of the Budge t________________________________________

Federal Aviation Agency_____________________________________

General Services Adm inistration_______________________________

Statem ent of—

Bennett, Thomas P., adm inistrative assistant, on behalf of Hon.

John R. Hansen, a Representative in Congress from the Sta te of 

Iowa_____________________________________________________ 7

Bowers, Chester G., Deputy Director, Airport Service, Federal

Aviation Agency___________________________________________ 3

Sales, W alter R., city manager, Clarinda, Iow a__________________ 11

Additional material subm itted for the record by the Cham ber of Commerce

of Clarinda, Iowa: Statem ent of John Hunter, president------------------- 11

in

LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIR POMp P

----------- r .

ROPERTY

TUES DAY, SE PTE M B E R 27 , 19 66

H o u s e of R e p r e s e n t a t iv e s ,

S u b c o m m it t e e on T r a n spo r t a t io n and A e r o n a u t ic s

of t h e C o m m it t e e on I n t e r s t a t e and F o r e ig n C o m m e r c e,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 2123, 

Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Samuel N. Friedel (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. F r ie d e l . The meeting now will come to order.

The Subcommittee on Transportation and Aeronautics meets 

today to consider H.R. 10700—a bill to allow the city of Clarinda, 

Iowa, to lease for nonairport purposes a portion of real property 

which was conveyed to tha t city for airport purposes. This legislation was introduced by our colleague, Congressman John R. Hansen.

(H.R. 10700 and agency reports thereon follow:)

[H.R. 10700, 89th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize the Adm inistrato r of the Federal Aviation Agency to release restrictions on the use 

of certain real property conveyed to the city of Clarinda, Iowa, for airp ort purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of

America in Congress assembled, That, notw ithstand ing section 16 of the Federal 

Airport Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency is authorized, 

subject to the provisions of section 4 of the Act of October 1, 1949 (50 App. U.S.C. 

1622c), to grant releases from any of the terms, conditions, reservations, and 

restrictions contained in the deed of conveyance dated Marc h 26, 1947, under 

which the United States conveyed certain property to the city of Clarinda, Iowa, 

for airport purposes.

F ed er a l Av ia tio n Agen cy,

O f f ic e of t h e Ad m in is tr a to r, 

Washington, D.C., September 2, 1965.

Hon. O ren H a rris ,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

D ea r M r . C h a ir m a n : This is in reply to your request for the views of this 

Agency with respect to H.R. 10700, a bill to authorize the Adm inistrator of the 

Federal Aviation Agency to release restrictions on the use of certain real prop erty 

conveyed to the city of Clarinda, Iowa, for airport purposes.

The purpose of this bill is to permit the city of Clarinda, Iowa, to lease, for nonairport purposes, a certain portion of real property conveyed to that city for 

airp ort purposes. The airport prop erty which Clarinda would lease was formerly 

surplus Federal prop erty and was conveyed by quitclaim deed on Marc h 27, 

1947, without cash consideration to Clarinda under Section 16 of the Federal 

Airport Act.

Section 16 of the Federal Airport Act provides that whenever the Administra tor of the Federal Aviation Agency deems that use of any lands owned or 

controlled by the United States is reasonably necessary to carry out a project 

under that Act or for the operation of a public airp ort he shall file with the head 

of a dep artm ent or agency having control of the lands a request tha t such prop erty 

1
2 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

inte rest as he determines necessary be conveyed to the local public agency sponsoring the project or owning the airport. If the head of the departm ent or 

agency involved determines th at a conveyance of such interest is not inconsistent 

with the needs of th at dep artment or agency, he is authorized and directed, with 

the approval of the President and the Attorney General, to make the conveyance 

requested. Section 16 further provides, however, tha t each such conveyance 

“shall automatically revert to the United States in the event th at the lands in 

question are not developed, or cease to be used, for airp ort purposes.”

Land conveyed pur suant to the provisions of Section 16 is generally not land 

that has been found to be surplus to the needs of the Federal Government. The 

only determination made with respect to the request for transfer, other than the 

determination that land is needed for airport purposes, is th at use of the land 

for public a irpo rt purposes would not be inconsistent with the needs of the agency 

having control over the land. Pro perty is not determined to be surplus to the 

needs of the Government until it has been found that no other department or 

agency has need for it. Further, if any prop erty is determined to be surplus 

to the needs of the entire Federal Government, it is disposed of in accordance 

with provisions of the Federal Pro perty and Administrative Services Act or 

the Surplus Prop erty Act, as amended. However, in the case of the land at 

Clarinda, the Administrator of the War Assets Administration made a prior 

finding t ha t the property was surplus to the needs of the Government.

At the time of the conveyance to Clarinda the only author ity for the conveyance of this surplus property for airp ort purposes and with out consideration 

was Section 16 of the Federal Airport Act. However, four months after this 

conveyance, Section 13(g) of the Surplus Property Act was enacted authorizing 

conveyance of surplus property for airp ort use without consideration. If Section 

13(g) had been available at the time of the Clarinda conveyance, the prop erty 

involved would have been conveyed under th at section. The significance of th at 

fact is th at if the prop erty had been conveyed under Section 13(g) and not under 

Section 16 of the Federal Airport Act, the Administrator of the FAA would have 

the author ity to release this property for non-airp ort uses, and there would be no 

need for special legislation. In light of this consideration, we have no objection 

to enactment of H.R. 10700 to authorize the Administrator to convey a portion of 

the prop erty for non-airport uses as if the prop erty had been originally conveyed 

as surplus airport property. Since the conveyance would under the bill be regarded as if it had been a surplus p roperty conveyance, the bill should, as H.R. 

10700 does, apply certain other conditions applicable to property which was actually conveyed as surplus property, specifically the addition of the provisions of 

Section 4 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. Th at section 

requires th at before prop erty is released for non-airport purposes th e Administrator 

of FAA must find tha t the property to be conveyed no longer serves the purpose 

for which it was transferred or th at the release of the property will n ot prevent 

accomplishment of the purpose for which the prop erty was transferred and is 

necessary in order to protect or advance the interest of the United States in civil 

aviation. It further perm its the Administrator of FAA to impose conditions on 

any conveyance of surplus airp ort property made for non-airport uses. It would 

permit us to require the proceeds of the non-airport use to be applied to airp ort 

maintenance and development, a condition we intend to apply.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised th at there is no objection from the stand ­

point of the Adm inistration’s program to the submission of this report to your 

Committee.

Sincerely,

William F. McKee,

Adm inistrator.

General Services Administration,

Washington, D.C., September 22, 1966.

Hon. Harley O. Staggers,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: Your letter of September 15, 1966, invited any comments th at the General Services Administration may care to offer concerning 

H.R. 10700, 89th Congress, a bill “To authorize the Administrator of the Federal 

Aviation Agency to release restrictions on the use of certain real property conveyed to the city of Clarinda, Iowa, for airport purposes.”

We are informed by represen tatives of the Federal Aviation Agency tha t the 

purpose of th e bill is to perm it the city of Clarinda to lease a portion of the airport
LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY 3

pro per ty an d vise th e pro ce ed s to w ar d th e m ai nte nan ce and im pr ov em en t of th e 

air port . F urt her, it is ou r un de rs ta ndi ng th a t th e FAA favo rs th is prop os ed 

le gi slatio n as co m m en su ra te w ith th ei r pr og ra m ob jectives .

Alth ou gh th e pr op os ed legisla tio n is mo re appro pri at el y th e co nc ern of th e 

Fed er al A vi at io n Ag ency, th e G en eral Se rvices A dm in is trat io n wo uld ha ve no 

ob je ct io n to it s en ac tm en t.

The B ur ea u of th e Bud ge t ha s ad vise d th a t, fro m th e st andpoin t of th e Adm in is tr ati on’s pr og ra m , th er e is no ob ject io n to th e su bm ission of th is re port to 

you r Com m itt ee .

Sin cerely yo ur s,

Lawson B. K no tt, Jr .,

Ad minist ra tor.

B ur ea u of th e B ud ge t, 

Wa shi ngton , D. C., Sep tem ber SO, 1965.

Ho n. Ore n Harri s,

Ch air ma n, Com mittee on Inter sta te an d Foreign Commerce, House of Rep resentatives, Ra yb urn Hou se Office B uild ing, Wa shing ton , D.C .

D ear M r. C ha ir man : Thi s is in repl y to yo ur re qu es t of Aug us t 2S, 1965, for

th e vie ws of th e B ur ea u of th e Bud ge t on II .It. 10700, a bill “To au th or iz e th e 

A dm in is tr at or of th e Fed er al A viatio n Agenc y to release re st ri ct io ns on th e use of 

ce rtai n real pr oper ty c on ve ye d to the c ity of C la rind a, Iowa, for a irpo rt pu rp os es .”

In vie w of th e sp ec ial circ um stan ce s se t fo rth in th e re port of th e Fe de ra l Av iation Agency on th is bill, th e Bur ea u of the B ud ge t wo uld ha ve no ob jection to its 

en ac tm en t.

Sinc erely yo urs,

P h il ip S. H ug he s,

As sistan t Dire ctor fo r Leg isla tive Reference.

Mr. F ried el. Mr. C heste r Bowers, D ep uty D ire cto r of the Airports 

Service of the Fed eral Aviatio n Agen cy will be the first witness.

STA TEMENT OF CHESTER G. BOWERS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

AIR PORTS SERVICE, FEDERAL AVIAT ION AGENCY

Mr. B owers. Th an k you , Mr. Chairma n.

Mr. Chairma n, Congressm an Dev ine, I am Chest er Bowers, 

Dep ut y Direc tor of the Airpo rts Service of the Fed eral Aviatio n 

Agency.

We app rec iate this op po rtu nity to appear this mornin g to assist 

in your conside ration of these bills.

Th e Agency has alr ead y subm itte d to the com mittee lette rs in 

which our views on the bills are set out in the record. H .R . 10700 and 

S. 2434, the Sen ate- passed bill also before you, would authorize the 

Ad mi nis tra tor of the FAA to perm it the city of Cla rinda, Iowa, to 

lease for no nairp ort use, a portio n of an air po rt which was donat ed to 

Cl ari nd a by the Federal Government in 1947. Th e legal conditio ns 

under which the prop erty was donated provide that if the pro perty 

is no t used for air po rt purp oses it will au tom ati cally revert to the 

Gover nment .

We believe th at it is fair to release Clari nda from the restric tion 

th at this prop erty be used only for air po rt purposes. Un de r the 

Sur plus Pr op erty Act, air po rt prop erty donated for airport use can 

be released by the Ad ministrator for no na irp ort use if he finds th at 

the prop ert y no long er serves the pur pose for which it was do na ted , 

or if he finds th at release of t he prop erty would n ot preve nt accomp lishme nt of the purpose for which the pr op erty was transferred and is 

nece ssary in ord er to protec t or advance the inter est of the United 

State s in civil aviation.
4 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

The Ad ministrator has, in the past, released ma ny surplus prop erty 

air ports or por tions thereof for nonairp ort use. The bill before you 

would place the Clarinda Airport prop erty in the sam e categ ory as 

as other surplu s prop erty a irp orts inso far as the Ad mi nis tra tor would 

be authorized to release portion s of the prop erty for no nairp ort use.

In fact, if this propert y had been conveyed 4 months later th an it 

was, namely, aft er the en actm ent of sectio n 13g of the S urplus Pr op erty 

Act instead of before it, the prop erty would hav e been relea sable in 

the disc reti on of the FAA Ad mi nis tra tor and this legislation would 

not have been necessary.

As we un derst and it, Clarinda intends to lease a portio n of the airpo rt prop ert y for use as a me atp ack ing pla nt. This could be done in 

a man ner which would not inte rfere with the airport ope ration. The 

airport operation would receive a dir ect bene fit from the nonairp ort 

operation. This is due to the fac t th at an y nonairp ort use of the 

pro perty which would be authorized by these bills would be subje ct 

to reasonable conditions imposed by the Ad mi nis tra tor of the Fed eral 

Aviation Agency.

The FAA would require th at the proceeds from no nairp ort use of 

the prop ert y be used in supp ort of the airport.

Mr. Chairma n, th at concludes the par t of m y stat em en t rel ating to 

Clarinda. If there are any que stio ns I should be happ y to answ er 

them.

Mr. Frie de l. Mr. Devine, any que stions?

Mr. Dev ine. Yes.

Mr. Bowers, a pp aren tly you made a s tudy here, bu t you h ave shown 

nothing to the committee , no c har ts, no indication of wh at the location 

of this me atp ack ing plan t would be, wha t interference it m ay or may 

no t h ave with the operation of the air po rt.

Do you hav e any ch art here to ind ica te this?

Mr. Bowers. No. I do not, sir.

Mr. Dev ine. Could you describe it with ou t any cha rts?

Mr. Bowers. Th e air po rt pro perty , which was a pris one r of war 

camp in World War II and transferred to the city under section 16 

of the Feder al Airpo rt Act, consists of app rox imately 500 acres, I 

believe.

The proposal would be to use ab ou t 40 acres, 38 or 40 acres, for 

nonail por t use; namely, lease for a meatp ack ing pla nt.

Mr. D ev ine. Is any portion of this 40 acres in line with any of the 

landing strips?

Mr. Bowers. Th e bill would aut horize the Ad mi nis trator of the 

FAA to gr an t the release upon determination and finding t hat the pro ­

posed use would in no way interfere with the operation or future develo pme nt of the airport. The bill itself does not provide for the release. It aut hor izes the Ad mi nis trator to grant the release upon 

finding th at these cond ition s------

Mr. Dev ine. From having some knowledge of m eatpacking plants, 

sometimes the y have high sta cks and thin gs like that around them. 

If the y are going to pu t a pla nt there it could of course interfere 

with approac hes, takeoffs, and thin gs of th at nature.

Mr. Bowers. Tha t is very correct.

Mr. D ev ine. Are you satisfied th at nothing like this will occur. 

Is th at true ?

Mr. Bower s. Th at is correct, and I assure you, sir, th at the Federal 

Avi atio n Agency would not gra nt a release until it was satisfied beyo nd
LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

dou bt th at th at there would he no interference with eit her the opera ­

tion of the air po rt or its fut ure development.

Mr. D ev ine. This is mere authorizin g legislation and it does not 

cause the conveyance to be made. It leaves with the FAA the discretion as to wheth er or not to make the release; is th at true?

Mr. Bower s. Tha t is correct.

Mr. D ev ine. T hat is all I have, Mr. Cha irm an .

Mr . F ried el. Mr. Cunningh am?

Mr . Cunn ingham. No questions.

Mr. Frie de l. Mr. Watson ?

Mr. Watson. Mr. Ch airma n, perha ps one or two.

T am sorry I wa sn’t here at the beginning of y our testim ony, Mr. 

Bowers.

What typ e air craft is the Cla rinda Airpo rt able to acc om modate 

now? W ha t is the len gth of the runway?

Mr. Bowers. The len gth of the run wa y is 2,900 feet I belie ve, so it 

is stri ctly an airport th at serves what we call general a via tio n aircra ft, 

nonairline aircra ft, of course.

It tak es the single engine aircraft and should acc om modate some of 

of the small, lig ht twin-engine aircra ft.

Mr. Watson. I see.

So far a s you know has the re been any objection on the pa rt of the 

commercial or priva te fliers in the area to the relea se of this area to 

th at me atp ack ing com pany?

Mr. Bowers. Not as far as I know, sir.

Mr. Watson. N o objection from the Pr ivate Pil ots Associatio n?

Mr. Bowers. As far as I k now ther e h as no t been. As I m entioned 

earlier, this legislation would autho rize a release. It does not gr an t 

the release.

Mr. Watson. Yes, sir.

Mr. B owers. So the Ad ministrator of FAA would assure himself 

th at the re is no problem with the aviation use of the airport in the 

grantin g of this release.

Mr. Watson. The reason I ask these questions is we have been 

wrestling with a similar problem in Columb ia, S.C. We have a fine 

new airport. We have the old one which is downtow n.

In my jud gm ent it is not ideal even for small aircra ft and ye t the 

pilo ts still want it, as they say, for an auxiliary landing strip or what 

have you.

Is there any provision for a hearing before the prop ert y is actua lly 

released by the Commission or by some local au tho rity, or are you 

know ledgable on that?

Mr. Bowers. As far as I know there is no provision mad e for a 

hearing.

Mr. Watson. Th an k you very much.

Mr. F rie de l. Is this field a grass strip, or is it paved?

Mr. Bowers. Mr. Chairma n, it consists of two strips —one a turf 

strip 2,900 feet long, and th e oth er is a turf strip 2,900 feet long as well, 

bu t on this turf strip there is a 50-foot wide by 2,100-foot bitum ino us 

area.

As I understand it, the entire length of 2.900 feet is availab le for 

land ing and takeoff, bu t there is a bitu minous run way, so called, on 

the strip.
6 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Bowers, presently what are the terms of the 

proposed lease and what would be the length of the lease?

Mr. B owers. I do not know that, Mr. Chairman. The Federal 

Aviation Agency has not made a decision on granting a release. This 

is legislation that would place Clarinda in the same position as if it 

were a surplus airport. The airport was transferred to the community 4 months before the Surplus Property Act was passed and 

used other legislation, so all this would do would be permit the Administrator of FAA to treat it as a surplus airport and to go into these 

questions when we receive a formal application from Clarinda for 

the release.

Mr. F riedel. Do you know what is the present market value of 

the property which Clarinda proposes to lease?

Mr. B owers. No; 1 do not, sir.

Mr. F riedel. Mr. Springer, any questions?

Mr. Springer. No questions.

Mr. Watson. Mr. Chairman, may we ask Mr. Bowers one further 

question?

Mr. Friedel. Any questions, John Bell Williams?

Mr. Williams. I nave no questions.

Mr. F riedel. Mr. Watson.

Mr. W atson. How extensively is this airport used to date? Do 

you have any figures of the number of takeoffs and landings there?

Mr. Bowers. An estimate made by the local airport operator. He 

estimates a total of 6,700 operations annually. There were, in March 

of this year, 11 aircraft based at the field. Eight of them were fourplace or larger. T presume they were all four-place, but the listing 

1 have is four-place or larger.

Mr. Williams. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Williams.

Mr. Williams. Is there another airport in that area?

Mr. Bowers. Yes.

Mr. Williams. That is available to these aircraft?

Mr. B owers. There is a small strip nearby. As far as I know it is 

not paved and I do not have the information on the length.

Mr. Williams. Is this a paved strip?

Mr. B owers. I am not sure.

Mr. Williams. I am sorry I came in late.

Mr. Bowers. You asked about Clarinda, or the other airport?

Mr. Williams. Clarinda.

Mr. Bowers. Clarinda has a bituminous strip 50 feet wide by 

2,100 feet long situated on a 2,900-foot landing strip.

Mr. Williams. Do they have lights? Is it lighted?

Mr. B owers. There is a beacon and there are lights to show the 

taxiway exit. I am not sure whether the strip is lighted or not.

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Bowers, I understand th at we have Mr. Bennett, 

administrative assistant to our colleague, the Honorable John R. 

Hansen, and 1 understand he has a prepared statement.

Do you want to read that or have that placed in the record, Mr. 

Bennett?
LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY 7

STATEMENT OF THOMAS P. BENNETT, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, ON BEHALF OF HON. JOHN R. HANSEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA

Mr. Bennett. Unless you desire me to rea d it I will jus t present 

it as wr itten testim ony, unles s you would like me to read it.

Mr. F rie del. Do you wa nt it included in the reco rd, or do you 

wa nt it read?

Mr. Watson. Mr. Chairma n, if we could I would like to hav e it 

read .

Mr. F rie del. It is a brief sta tem ent.

Mr. Watson. It is a brief sta temen t, isn’t it?

Mr. Bennett. Yes, sir, two pages.

I am Thomas P. Be nn ett, admi nis tra tiv e assis tan t for Congressman

John R. Hansen. Mr. Han sen, un fortu nately, is ou t of the city on 

busin ess and wanted me to present the sta temen t for him.

Fi rst of all, I do wa nt to express Mr. Ha nsen’s pers onal app reciation to this sub com mittee for consenting to con duct these hearing s 

on this legislation which does m ean so m uch fo r the industrial develo pmen t and economic growth of southw est Iowa.

Mr. Ha nsen’s bill, H.R . 10700, will authorize the Ad mi nis tra tor of 

the Feder al Aviation Agency to release res tric tions on the use of 

certa in real prop erty conveyed to the city of Cla rinda, Iowa, for airpo rt purposes.

With these res tric tions remo ved, the city of Clarinda plans to lease 

the prop erty for industr ial purp oses . This pr op erty consists of appro xim ately 36 acres and is a portio n of a larger parcel conveyed by 

quitclaim deed to the c ity of Clarind a on Ma rch 26, 1947, by t he War 

Assets Ad minis trator. The conveyance was made pu rsu an t to section 16 of the Feder al Airpo rt Act (49 U.S.C. 1115) which auth orizes 

the Ad mi nis tra tor of the Fed eral Aviation Agency to req ues t convey ance of U.S.-owned prop erty to local air po rt spon sors if such land 

is deemed necessary to the airport pro ject and is otherwise con sistent 

with the objectives ol the Feder al Air port Act.

All conveyan ces made pu rsua nt to section 16 c ontain a re versionary 

clause which provides th at in the event the prop ert y conv eyed is 

not developed, or ceased to be used for air port purposes, it au tomatically rev ert s to the Un ite d States.

Because of th at clause, this legislation is necessa ry in ord er for the 

cit y of Cla rinda to lease the prop erty for nonairp ort purposes.

II.R . 107 00 does incl ude the prov ision th at the release of the 

restric tions is su bje ct to section 4 of the F edera l Pr op erty and Administ rativ e Services Act (50 U.S.C. 1622c), which requires th at before 

prop erty is released for nonairp ort purp oses , the Ad mi nis tra tor of 

FAA mu st find th at the prop erty to be conv eyed no longer serves the 

purpose for which it was tran sferred or th at the release of the prop ert y 

will not preve nt accomplis hment of the purpose for which the p roperty 

was tran sferred and is nece ssary in ord er to prote ct or advance the 

inter est of the United State s in civil aviation .

I t fu rth er perm its the Adm ini strato r of FAA to impose co ndition s on 

any conveyance of surplus air po rt prop erty mad e for no nairp ort uses.

In this case, it will perm it the FAA to require th at the proceeds of 

the nonairp ort use be applied to airport ma intenance and develop ­

ment.
8 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

rPke property in question is not needed for the present or future 

development of the Clarinda Airport. In addition, the use of the 

land for industrial purposes would result in a new source of funds to 

improve the facilities which are vital to the airport.

The city of Clarinda has indicated tha t it is entirely willing to comply with the conditions to be established by the FAA. The development of that property is of great importance to the industrial and economic growth not only of Clarinda, but of all of southwest Iowa. With 

the restrictions removed, the property will be leased to the Nodaway 

Valley Packing Co., an Iowa corporation owned by hundreds of stockholders throughout southwest Iowa.

Presently located adjacent to the airport, the company plans to 

expand its operations through a $3 million investment in new construction and equipment. When completed, this facility will bring 

employment to more than 200 southwest Iowa residents. It will also 

serve as a spark to at tract much-needed new industry to our region of 

rural America.

It is my understanding that the Federal Aviation Agency, the General Services Administration, the Department of Commerce, and the 

Department of Justice have no objection to enactment of this bill.

I urge you to approve this legislation and recommend its enactment 

before this session of Congress is adjourned.

Mr. F riedel. Thank you for the brief statement of our colleague, 

Congressman Hansen.

Mr. Pickle.

Mr. Pickle. Mr. Chairman, I thank you very much. Let me pass 

for the time being. I came in late and I am trying to catch up on the 

testimony, if I may.

M r. Friedel. Mr. Devine, any questions?

Mr. Devine. No questions.

Mr. F R IE D E L . Ml*. Huot?

Mr. Huot. Is this airport operated by the authority, or how is it 

run? By the city or by the authority?

Mr. Bennett. It is operated by the the city of Clarinda.

Mr. Huot. In his statem ent our colleague said the revenue was 

going to be used for the improvement of the airport.

Mr. Bennett. That is correct.

Mr. Huot. The revenue is going into the general fund of the city, 

or to an airport fund if it is not controlled by an authority?

Mr. Bennett. The money that would be coming from the lease, 

in other words, the money that the city would gain from the leasing 

the property to the packing company, would go into the airport fund.

Mr. Huot. Not into the general fund of the city?

Mr. Bennett. No; into this special airport fund.

Mr. Huot. Thank you.

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Cunningham?

Mr. C unningham. No questions.

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Ronan? Mr. Watson?

Mr. Watson. Mr. Chairman, perhaps we should direct this to Mr. 

Bowers. I notice from the testimony of our colleague, Mr. Hansen, 

that it is permissive for the FAA to require certain stipulations upon 

this conveyance.

What is the intention of the FAA so far as imposing any restrictions 

upon this conveyance?
LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOW A, AIRPOR T PROPERTY 9

Mr. Bowers. First of all, as far as the proceeds which have just 

been discussed, the FAA would require th at the net proceeds from the 

nonairport use of the property be used in the operation, development, 

and maintenance of the airport.

Assuming the release is granted, there would be a restriction on 

height of structures on the property. These two are normal. There 

may be other restrictions, but no decision is made on it. The act 

would provide authority for the Administrator to place reasonable 

restrictions on the property. The two that I have spoken of would 

be automatic. There might possibly be others.

Mr. Watson. So that I might understand exactly the mechanics of 

the contract here, is it intended that it be a lump-sum sale for nonairport use, or would it be on an annual or monthly rental basis?

Mr. Bennett. It would be a monthly rental basis.

Mr. Watson. It would be on a monthly rental basis, and when we 

are speaking of the net proceeds, that will be the monthly rental that 

would go into the city airport fund for maintenance or improvement 

of the airport itself?

Is tha t a fair statement?

Mr. Bennett. Tha t is correct.

Mr. Friedel. Mr. Williams, any questions?

Mr. Williams. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask one or 

two questions about this.

Mr. Bennett, I presume you are familiar with this area personally; 

aren’t you?

Mr. Bennett. Tha t is correct. We also have some gentlemen 

from Clarinda.

Mr. Williams. As I understand it, and I am in the position Mr. 

Pickle is in—I wasn’t here when the hearing started so I may be 

going over some ground tha t has already been covered—but as I 

understand it, the intention is to retain a portion of this for airport 

use?

Mr. Bennett. Yes. We only are talking in terms of 36 acres out 

of I think originally 300, so we are only taking about 10 percent.

Mr. Williams. How many runways do you have?

Mr. Bennett. There w’ere two I believe that Mr. Bowers spoke of.

Mr. Williams. Will this close one of the runways, Mr. Bowers?

Mr. Bowers. Mr. Congressman, since I don’t know the location 

of the property I can’t tell you what is proposed, but the FAA would 

not grant a release th at would close the runways.

Mr. Bennett. If I might add, the property tha t we are talking 

about, the 36 acres, is not connected with the present or any anticipated future use of the airport. It is on one ecfge of the airport that 

is not being used or anticipated to be used.

Mr. Williams. One further question.

As I understand it, the plans are to relax the restrictions on the 

use of this property in order to provide some business firm area for 

expansion?

Mr. Bennett. Tha t is correct.

Mr. Williams. 1 would presume tha t tha t would carry with it 

additional construction.

Mr. Bennett. Yes, sir.

Mr. Williams. Does that create any airspace problems? Will 

the additional construction be in the approach zones or in an area 

where it might possibly create an airspace hazard?
10 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

Mr. Bennett. I think th at the res trictions or the conditions th at 

the FAA would esta blish before the y would authorize this would 

preclude th at happ ening.

Mr. Williams. Would you agree with that, Mr. Bowers?

Mr. B owers. Yes, Mr. Congres sman.

As a m at te r of fact, the FAA would make its normal airsp ace 

review before a release were granted and the record would include a 

finding th at there is no adv eise effect on the airport.

Mr. Willia ms. Mr. Bowers, I would like to ask you one question 

just a l ittle bit off the reco rd now.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. F riedel. Mr. Pickle.

Mr. Pick le. Mr. Chairma n, this would be a good time to ask my 

que stio n; would it?

Mr. F ried el. Yes.

Mr. Pick le. I don’t hav e an objection, bu t I am asking for inform atio n from Mr. Bowers.

Accordin g to the testim ony of the gen tleman from Congres sman 

Ha nsen’s office he makes the sta temen t th at all conveyance s mad e 

pu rsua nt to section 16 con tain a revers ion ary clause which prov ides 

in the event the pro perty conveyed were no t deve loped or ceased to 

be used for air po rt purposes, it autom ati cally rev erts to the United 

Sta tes.

I hav e a situatio n in my hometown where the Federal Go vernm ent 

had conveyed to the St ate of Texas, or the reverse, prop erty at a 

National Gu ard facility, all of which was no t being used and needed 

by the Na tio nal Guard unit. Th ey were per fectly agre eable to give 

this to the cit y of Austin to develop it for recrea tional purp oses 

because it was rig ht in the he art of the city.

Th e Arm ed Services Comm itte e said th at as long as the deed contain ed this rev ersionary clause if i t was ever used for any purpose oth er 

than for Na tio nal Guard or defense purposes it could no t be leased or 

sold or exchanged in any ma nner whatso ever, so the bill th at I had 

ju st faded ou t because I cou ldn’t get any agreem ent from the D ep ar tme nt of Defense.

Now, in wh at way does th at s itu ati on differ from the situa tio n here? 

Do y ou have the autho rity? Is this bill legal if i t were passed by the 

Congress so th at you could the n allow it? Is your regulation different 

from wh at the Defense Dep artm en t might have?

Mr. Bowers. I ca n’t spe ak for the Defense De pa rtm en t, Mr. 

Congres sman, but, first of all, the Sur plus Pr op erty Act, which is 

not involved in this bill, permits the Ad mi nis tra tor to gr an t releases 

when surplus Gov ernment prop ert y is transferred for airport use.

The Sur plus Pr op erty Act permits the gra nti ng of releases. This 

pa rticular prop ert y was tran sferred under section 16 of the Feder al 

Airpo rt Act—I am speakin g of Clarinda—r athe r th an the Surplus 

Prop erty Act. Section 16 of the Federal Airpo rt Act requ ires this 

rev erter p rovision.

The legislation proposed is to actua lly trea t Clarinda as if it were 

transferred un der the Surplus Pr op erty Act. So ap paren tly , I would 

presume, the milita ry mad e a tra nsfer und er legislation th at applies 

to them which has the same k ind of provision section 16 of the Feder al 

Air port Act has.

I really c an ’t give any advice how to get relief on this. This is an 

area th at is outside the Feder al Aviation Agen cy responsibility.
LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY 11

Mr. Pickle. I thank you, Mr. Bowers, and I would like to give 

you a copy of the bill I had introduced and would like to talk to you 

about it individually later to see how it might differ, but mainly if 

this is within the purview of our rights from a legislative standpoint 

was my inquiry to you.

Mr. F riedel. Thank you.

I understand tha t the Honorable Chester Lee, mayor of Clarinda, 

is here; Mr. John Hunter, president of the Clarinda Chamber of 

Commerce; and Mr. Walter R. Sales, city manager of Clarinda, 

Iowa, and I understand all are in favor of the bill.

If there is no objection, we will have such statements as they may 

wish to supply, included in the record at this point.

(The statement of Mr. John Hunter follows:)

Sta te m e n t of J oh n H u n t e r, P r e s id e n t of th e C h am ber of C om m er ce of

C la rin da, I ow a

Mr. Chairman, I am John Hunter, president of the Chamber of Commerce of 

Clarinda, Iowa. As its president I am representing th at organization and the 

community in behalf of H.R. 10700 now under consideration.

The people in the Clarin da area are vitally inte rested in the development of 

industry and the improvement of agriculture. For this purpose over 3,000 people 

in our area have purchased stock in the amount of $2,250,000 to build a meat 

packing plant. This pla nt will provide a market for our cattle and hogs and 

employment for our people. We believe it will assist in th e decrease of the migration of people from our area. This organization now owns 100 acres which joins 

the Clarinda airpo rt. The business of meat packing requires sizable q uantitie s of 

water and waste disposal. The packing company is desirous of having the city 

provide these services. It is for this purpose and for other industries which we 

hope to locate in this area in the future t ha t we ask tha t th is legislation be enacted 

to clarify the restrictions in the original conveyance to the City of Clarinda.

With the added revenue accruing to the city for these services we are certain 

that we can make a better airport out of the facility we now have.

Thank you for your consideration of this proposal.

Mr. Friedel. I would like to know if any one of those three can 

answer this question.

Briefly, what are the terms of the proposed lease and what would 

be the length of the lease, the length of time, and what is the present 

market value of the property Clarinda proposes to lease?

Mr. Sales. I will try to answer, sir, if I may.

Mr. Friedel. Identify yourself.

STA TEM ENT OF WALTER R. SALES, CITY MANAGER, CLARIND A, 

IOW A

Mr.JSALES. Mr. Chairman, my name is Walter Sales. I am the 

city manager of Clarinda.

Actually we haven’t gone that far because a year ago when they 

first started talking to us about this property was when we found out 

the lease couldn’t be worked out regardless of w hat the terms might 

be in the lease. We are up against this roadblock.

And I might say that the value of the particular property tha t has 

been mentioned here, this 36 acres, is probably quite low. It is, I 

would say, in the neighborhood of $150 an acre and at that time, a 

year ago, when we were first discussing this we were only talking in 

terms of around $30 an acre per year lease.

Does tha t answer your question?
12 LEASING OF CLARINDA, IOWA, AIRPORT PROPERTY

Mr. Friedel. You don’t know the present market value of the 

property?

Mr. Sales. I would say in the neighborhood of $150 an acre. 

There is other property in this area tha t may well still be considered 

surplus in addition to this 36 acres th at has higher value.

(Mr. Sales’ prepared statem ent follows:)

Sta tem en t o f W a lter Sa l e s , Cit y M ana g er o f C l a r in d a, I ow a

Mr. Chairman, I am Walter Sales, city manager of Clarinda, Iowa.

During World War II the U.S. Government built a nd maintain ed a prisoner of 

war camp on a 290-acre site adjacent to the south edge of Clarinda.

After the war the property became surplus to the federal government and in 

1947 th e entire parcel was conveyed to the City of Clarinda by quit-claim deed 

pursuant to section 16 of the Federal Airport Act with the agreement t ha t it would 

be used for airport purposes. All conveyances made pursuant to section 16 contain a reversionary clause so that in the ev ent any part of the prop erty conveyed 

is not developed, or ceases to be used, for airpo rt purposes, it automatically reverts 

to the United States.

Since the City of Clarinda has received the property, over $300,000 has been 

\ Spent to develop a truly excellent airport for our small city. Approximately

,^©4 '$20,000 is spent annually on its operation and maintenance. The airport facility

'V* and future requirements as determined by the FAA approved master plan occupy 

approximately 180 acres of the total site, leaving over 100 acres in excess of our

projected airport needs.

Clarinda’s growth is expanding industrially towards and around our airport site. 

The City now has an opportu nity to use the excess area to aid and promote the 

industrial growth tha t is so extremely important to the welfare of our community.

Due to the unusual restrictions in section 16 of the Federal Airport Act under 

which conveyance was made to the City, proper and reasonable use cannot be 

made of the surplus land areas. At the suggestion of th e officials in the Federal 

Aviation Agency, this bill has been subm itted in behalf of the City of Clarinda. 

This bill makes the conveyance subject to section 4 of the Federal Property and 

Administrative Services Act which adeq uate ly protects Government and citizen 

interest in the property and will yet allow proper development of th e site. Any 

future development on the property would have to be approved by the FAA, the 

City would re tain control of th e site, and all income derived from any improvement 

thereon would be used for the future expansion and improvement of the airport 

facilities.

The city has been advised th at the Federal Aviation Agency, the General 

Services Administration, and the Depar tment of Commerce th at they approve 

of this proposed legislation.

We hope th at you agree and will assist in the bills en actment.

Mr. Friedel. I thank you. Are there any questions?

All right. Thank you. That concludes the hearing.

(Whereupon, the hearing was concluded.)