Hundreds of opponents of the proposed airport expansion at Bluegrass Station rallied Sunday at a nearby Bourbon County farm. Rebecca Stegner said state plans show if Bluegrass Station adds an airport and expands, a new rail line and industrial buildings would go on land at her Lucky Charm Farm. One of the attendees was Jon Schaafsma. He said it was awesome to see such a turnout against a project that would require the acquisition of thousands of acres of farmland and affect other property owners, too.
“This is not what Bourbon County is about. I mean, Bourbon County is, you know, big open farms, cattle farms, forest farms, hay fields, you know, this is why people move here. Not to have an, you know, big air park built right down the road from you.”
Schaafsma and others said while the project was discussed by Bourbon County elected officials in 2017, when it was revived, they knew nothing about it. Schaffsma is an airline pilot whose farm is three miles north of the proposed runway – and he said he’s not looking forward to C-130s and possibly 757s zooming overhead.
“Nobody wants those types of aircraft flying over their horse and cattle farms, you know, at five to 900 feet. Everybody's concerned about that, you know, you got all the thoroughbred farms out here.”
Schaafsma and others said there’s been too much secrecy about a process that could result in eminent domain seizures. Supporters say the airport expansion would bring in thousands of new jobs to the military-industrial business park.
** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.
