Navy Seeks Outline of Plan for Runway

Military officials on Thursday requested a formal proposal from city and county leaders who want to put the runway at the Point Mugu Navy base to commercial use.

The Point Mugu Regional Airport Authority needs to outline plans to top Navy leaders before they can allow passenger and package-delivery air service on base, said Vivian Goo, a deputy public works officer at Point Mugu.

“We have to be assured that none of this interferes with our operations,” Goo said.

The airport authority, a panel of elected officials from Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Thousand Oaks and Ventura County, was formed to pursue using the 11,000-foot runway at Point Mugu for commercial airline service.

A study done for the airport authority concludes that a temporary passenger terminal could be built for about $11 million--far less than the $142-million price tag for a permanent facility.

The report also concludes that overnight package deliveries could begin as soon as appropriate environmental reviews are completed. But authority board members delayed official acceptance of the document.

The board scheduled an Oct. 25 workshop to review the analysis with planners from the Southern California Assn. of Governments, whose engineers wrote the study.

“I just got mine [Wednesday],” said county Supervisor Frank Schillo, chairman of the authority board. “I don’t think we’re all prepared to make any decisions on it.”

Rod Murphy, the Ventura County airports administrator, said he had discussions with Federal Express executives last week, and that the company is planning to open a regional hub in Santa Barbara or Ventura County by the end of 1997.

Luring FedEx or other delivery companies would generate revenue for the authority through landing and other fees, Murphy said.