The plan said the park would generate 1,330 direct jobs and another 1,100 spin-off jobs. Plutt said the airport has about 12 usable acres as the land sits now, but said it isn't such a prime location. There are problems with building heights and incoming planes, and there's the matter of an access road to that end of the airfield, he said. The state said it didn't want the access road connected to Interstate 68, so that would mean joining it to the Mileground or just below Easton Hill. Either plan would be costly, Plutt said.
People ask why there's never been an industrial park here.
Morgantown Area Partnership Group Director Don Reinke said site availability is a key to attracting businesses, but the airport park site hasn't been worth promoting. You have to get into the cost-benefit factor. City Manager Dan Boroff said there has been some discussion about filling in a large portion of the ravine with fly ash, thereby cutting the cost of moving dirt, the greatest expense for such a project. There are small amounts of coal in the land and Boroff said it could be sold during excavation to help pay for the project, though he expected the return would be minuscule. But we're open to new ideas and suggestions.