The ordinances already exist for the formation of a joint airport zoning board. In fact, the city of Marshall has two appointees to the board.

Only it hasn't been active in at least 20 or 30 years.

The formation of the board was recommended by an airport advisory committee to develop and enforce zoning requirements around the airport.

Harrison County Airport is owned and operated by the county and this board "has nothing to do with the airport authority," the body which governs the operations at the facility, said city attorney Todd Fitts.

Fitts explained that the authority of the joint board "is much like the city's zoning board." It would determine height and "compatibility" regulations in the area surrounding the airport. Because the property around the facility includes both incorporated and unincorporated areas, the recommendations of the joint board would be presented to the particular governing entity.

The city statute providing for the formation of the joint board was adopted in 1947, Fitts told the board, adding that the county has the same basic ordinance. It provides for a five-member panel with two members appointed by the city and two appointed by the county. Those four members elect a fifth member who is designated the board chairman.

The city's members on the board currently are Ed Smith, father of Mayor Ed Smith, and Bobby Freeman, according to City Manager Frank Johnson.

The elder Smith said he wasn't even aware that he was on the board. The commissioners asked Johnson to notify Freeman of his board membership. Those appointments come up for consideration in October.

The county has no appointees.

The elder Smith, who told commissioners that he has been "flying in and out of the Marshall airport for the past 40 or 50 years," said the commissions — both city and county — "need to take steps to ensure that future development does not present problems for the airport."

He explained that the potential uses of land surrounding the facility "could potentially present conflicts" with air traffic.

Doyle Curry, member of the Harrison County Airport Advisory Board, noted that plans are underway to extend the airport's main runway 1,000 feet, bringing it to 6,000 feet.

"That's going to extend that oval of area around the airport where zoning is needed," he said.

Curry said the big problem is in the area of enforcement. He explained that the Federal Aviation Administration does not enforce height regulations around airports.

What it does, he said, is come in after an obstruction has been built and raise your ceiling (the lowest altitude at which a plane is allowed to fly).

He said the higher the ceiling, especially on an approach, the more difficult — in many cases impossible — the landing.

"People are going to Gregg County or to Shreveport," he said. "For businesses coming in to look at Marshall, that leaves a bad taste in their mouths."

Fitts said he had discussed the board's re-implementation with County Judge Richard Anderson, who responded that the county commissioners court would address the issue of appointments at an upcoming meeting.