News Flash

Northeast Ward Council Member Barbara Hanes Burke issued the following statement today on the proposed compromise on the status of Smith Reynolds Airport:

“I met with Mayor Allen Joines and Representative Donny Lambeth on April 19 regarding the bill to deannex Smith Reynolds Airport and their proposed compromise. I expressed my concern about the process and lack of community engagement. I asked Representative Lambeth to pause any action on the bill or the compromise until after receiving input from the neighboring residents impacted the most by the growth and development of Smith Reynolds Airport. 

“Representative Lambeth explained the tight window of opportunity for the bill to be considered by two house committees, pass the House floor, and make crossover to the Senate by the May 4 crossover deadline, which is necessary for the bill to remain eligible for consideration during this two-year bill cycle. Therefore, the bill will continue through committees.

“I made a second request of Representative Lambeth about possible financial assistance from the state to help minimize the negative impacts of development at Smith Reynolds Airport on the properties of neighboring residents and I cited erosion as one such negative impact. Representative Lambeth committed to researching the existence of any precedence for the type of financial assistance from the state to help the residents. 

“Representative Lambeth anticipates having the results of that research over the next few weeks. In the meantime, Mayor Joines reaffirmed the city’s commitment to work with the county to come up with a solution to immediately address the serious erosion issue.

“Overall, I was able to share constituent concerns with Representative Lambeth about the deannexation bill. While I was unable to pause the bill, I am looking forward to additional dialogue in the future with Representative Lambeth and Mayor Joines about an immediate solution to address the erosion issues and possible financial assistance from the state to alleviate some of the impacts on neighboring residents regarding development at Smith Reynolds Airport.”