Could Bourbon County landowners lose their property for a $320 million military project?
When her family was planning to leave California in the early 2000s, local realtor Rebecca Rigney searched far and wide for a potential new home in Central Kentucky.
She eventually landed on a 300-acre farmland tract in southern Bourbon County next to the Fayette County line and a stone’s throw from Bluegrass Station, a state-owned industrial “airpark” that serves the U.S. military.
Real estate developers, builders and buyers define an airpark as an industrial park for aircraft, from planes to helicopters.
Now, a $320 million-plus, 2,000-acre proposal to expand Bluegrass Station’s operation could force Rigney and her family to leave their beloved property.
“We’ve got this perfect property that we literally searched across the country to find, and this is where it is. There’s nothing (else). I don’t see where we can find this and put it back together for any amount of money,” Rigney said.
Rigney is one of several residents who expressed alarm at the inclusion of more than $320 million in the latest version of the state’s budget to build an airport runway and other improvements at Bluegrass Station.
Particularly alarming for the residents is that the initial project proposal includes the potential use of eminent domain to take the land.
Eminent domain is a legal practice that defines the right of government to buy private property for public use.
Supporters of the project applaud the new jobs the expansion could provide. While the park’s tenants employ about 2,000 people, an analysis produced in late 2022 provided to legislators projects the expansion could generate an additional 3,000 to 6,000 jobs there.
Stephen Collins, director of Bluegrass Station for Kentucky’s Department of Military Affairs, said community leaders have been seeking ways to strengthen the local economy. Bourbon County’s growth has remained stagnant across several decades.
“In Bourbon County, there’s no place for the kids to come back to work,” Collins said in an interview with the Herald-Leader Tuesday morning. “So. they’re looking for something to bring their kids back and allow their generations of families to work. This will do that.”
Collins said if the airpark is expanded, about six military flights a month would land there. The airport would still be open for general aviation, too, allowing private planes to access the runway. There is a backlog in demand for private aircraft space in the Central Kentucky area that the facility could address, Collins added.
He was not specific about what kind of military plans would utilized the expanded runway. The list could include jets, but the primary hangar tenants would be Lockheed’s huge four-engine, propeller-powered transport planes, known as C-130 Hercules.
“We would bring four C-130s for modification in the hangars. They’d stay here 8-10 months each,” Collins said.
What’s being proposed?
The $320 million would come through a public-private partnership, often referred to as a “P3,” meaning that funding responsibilities are shared between a government and a private entity.
In the latest iteration of the budget passed by the House, $55 million in bond funds would come from the state, with a potential for later reimbursement.
According to the late 2022 analysis, the state would likely fund the design, build and financing portions of the project in addition to the $55 million set aside in the budget for acquiring the land.
“The expectation is that the physical improvements for the Airpark component will be funded entirely by private capital,” the analysis reads.
If passed by the Senate, all of the investment could occur in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The funding for the project is not set in stone. The two-year budget proposal, which must be passed every two years, is detailed in House Bill 6. The budget faces a long road to final passage before the state legislature adjourns on April 15, still facing scrutiny by the Senate and the governor’s veto pen.
An implementation path document provided to legislators alongside the analysis projects completion to occur in 2027.
While the current footprint of Bluegrass Station exists largely within Fayette County, the vast majority of the proposed expansion would take place to the immediate north in Bourbon County, a largely rural patch of farmland.
The facility is now home to a heliport, where crews retrofit and fix helicopters. Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest defense contractors and the station’s largest employer, says on its website that the facility “executes sustainment and life cycle management” of the following:
Global supply chain of parts, warehouses and depots.
Aircraft, vehicle and equipment repair, maintenance and modifications.
Critical infrastructure support and business process transformation.
“We do engineering, manufacturing, aircraft modification, kitting of military items, the life cycle management of a lot of systems. The contract that Lockheed has is an ‘IDIQ,’ a logisitcs contract that means ‘indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity.’ The customer can ask for anything, anytime. It’s the only contract like that in the Department of Defense,” Collins said.
A runway would allow the facility to land and service fixed-wing aircraft, not just helicopters.
The most recent plan involves a 2,000-acre expansion to the 780-acre, but the report states that “future market conditions could justify expansion up to 4,000 acres.”
Collins emphasized that “no state general funds or capital funds” would be spent for the project.
“The $55 million would be provided by state-issued bond and possibly repaid by the private P3 developer depending upon a negotiated agreement in the future,” Collins said.
The $55 million in the budget proposal is slated to cover land acquisition, a process that the analysis indicates could take “12-72 months.” The extended time frame is due to the possibility of eminent domain and appeals.
The November 2022 analysis of the project acknowledges this could cause issues and delays.
“It is possible that the Commonwealth’s use of eminent domain to acquire significant property for the project could inspire public resentment, especially if the Commonwealth is not transparent with its actions, the benefits for community or the need for the Project,” the analysis reads.
The project appeared in Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s budget proposal and the initial version of the budget passed by the GOP-led House.
Like the House, the state Senate is also dominated by Republicans.
All other public entities contacted by the Herald-Leader – representatives for Beshear, the House, the Senate, local government – have either declined to comment or deferred to Collins. Lockheed Martin also deferred comment to Collins.
How do landowners feel?
Neighbors of Bluegrass Station are upset no information has been shared with landowners.
Many believe the project will move forward without public input and land will be taken by eminent domain.
Ike Van Meter’s property borders Bluegrass Station. He went to a Bourbon County Fiscal Court meeting last week to demand answers but was told all questions about the proposed runway expansion should be directed to state officials.
“If this is just exploratory, why are they being so secretive?” Van Meter said. “This is all being done under the cloak of national security. But who will this benefit? Are taxpayer dollars being used?”
Walker Hancock, president of Claiborne Farm, said he also found out about the project after it showed in the House budget proposal. There’s been more questions than answers from public officials. No one seems to know how the deal is structured, if eminent domain will be used, and if anyone has looked at the environmental issues associated with putting a large airplane facility on property bordered on nearly all sides by prime farmland.
Limestone, which makes the land ripe for farming, is also porous. If oil and gas get into the ground, it will make its way into the water supply, Hancock said.
“This is a back-room deal done with an out-of-state company,” Hancock said referring to Lockheed Martin. “They are using the veil of national security to try to push this through. It reeks of dirty politics.”
A Facebook page dedicated to fighting the proposal called “Citizens for Bourbon County” has been created.
History & potential future
The idea of expanding the airpark is not new.
Collins, in a letter sent to those who inquire about the project that also was provided to the Herald-Leader, said the state has considered expansion since acquiring the former U.S. Army depot in the early 1990s.
A version of the current expansion was proposed in 2017. Public outcry and push back from area landowners eventually killed the proposal. At that time, a vote from the Bourbon County Fiscal Court stopped the proposal from moving forward.
However, local leaders have told landowners they have no say over the project in 2024.
Collins said he recognizes previous efforts for expansion didn’t include enough “due diligence.” He stressed that the project is not yet “planned,” as it’s yet to be passed via the budget.
“It is very important to note that this report does not constitute a plan. The goal is to ensure proper consideration is given to options available regarding support for fixed-wing operations,” Collins said.
“The commonwealth’s processes recognizes that previous discussions regarding an airport in this area did not include the level of due diligence that is needed for a major infrastructure investment.”
No firm timetable would be provided until late March to mid-April, when the budget is usually finalized, Collins said.
“Once that process is concluded, the Department and the state’s Finance Cabinet will resume work to consider the strategic investments at Bluegrass Station. The next phase of this due diligence would include further study about interest from private partners as well as stakeholder and public involvement activities to discuss anticipated benefits and impacts of a potential project,” Collins said.
Collins told the Herald-Leader that if the project gets final passage, information would be gathered from private industry to then shape a Request for Proposals on a public-private-partnership contract. Then the details of what the state pays for versus a private partner, such as Lockheed Martin, might pay for would be hashed out
“At that point, negotiations began as to who provides what,” he said.
Still, taxpayer money has already been spent on the project.
In 2022, approximately $500,000 was set aside “to continue preliminary work on the Bluegrass Station Industrial Airport and Airpark project,” according to budget documents.
This story was originally published February 13, 2024 at 10:41 AM.
