Airport Will Vote on Plan to Finance Expansion : Burbank: City Council schedules meeting for today to discuss ramifications of proposal to issue short-term debt.

In what could be the first step toward financing a new, larger terminal, Burbank Airport officials will vote Monday on whether to issue $109 million in bonds and other debts, a move that prompted a surprised Burbank City Council to schedule a special meeting today.

The years-old prospect of airport expansion has long generated opposition from residents in the southeast San Fernando Valley and became a major campaign issue during City Council elections in February.

But Burbank officials said they were caught off guard by word of Monday’s vote, which would enable the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to avoid a public hearing, and they criticized the lack of advance notice.

“It was, from a timing standpoint, not very upfront,” said Vice Mayor Dave Golonski, a staunch expansion opponent who said he had not heard of the proposed vote until Friday. “None of our staff had any advance knowledge of this. It seems a little bit strange.”

But a top airport official denied any secrecy and maintained that the financing measure scheduled for Monday is hardly new business.

“This is not something we raced through the last week,” said Airport Authority President Brian Bowman. “This has been a long time coming.”

Anticipating a surge of air travelers in the next few years, airport officials are hoping to raise $109.8 million needed to purchase 140 acres of Lockheed Corp. land for the new terminal.

If the first phase of the new terminal is completed by 1998, it will add up to 10 more commercial flights a day to the present average of 93 and enough space to accommodate 5.4 million passengers flying into and out of Burbank.

A resolution to issue $109 million in tax-exempt bonds, taxable bonds or short-term promissory notes is expected to come before the airport’s nine-member operating board, the Airport Authority, during a meeting at 9 a.m. Monday in Burbank Airport’s Skyroom.

Concerned about what the ramifications of the measure will be, the Burbank City Council called for a special meeting to be held at Burbank City Hall at 5 p.m. today to discuss the matter. If the council fails to get a quorum, it will meet again at 7:30 a.m. Monday.

Last month, Burbank Airport officials dropped a bid to issue $100 million in tax-exempt bonds, which under federal law require the City Council’s approval and a public hearing.

Monday’s vote will enable airport officials to issue short-term debt right away and either tax-exempt or taxable bonds after two or three more years, Bowman said.

“We need to have the ability to have the money in place, and we’re late right now,” Bowman said.

Others, however, were not convinced.

“It’s almost like the Airport Authority is thumbing its nose at the city of Burbank,” said Mayor Bill Wiggins.

Wiggins said he found the wording of the Airport Authority’s resolution to be vague on the issue of whether the money is to be used for the land alone or the building of the new terminal.

Right now, three of the five City Council members support the first phase of airport expansion. In favor are Wiggins, Robert Bowne and George Battey Jr., and opposed are Golonski and Susan Spanos.

But in May, Bowne and Battey plan to retire from the council, giving opponents of airport expansion the opportunity to take power. They will be replaced by Councilman-elect Robert Kramer and either Ted McConkey or Mary Lou Howard, who face a runoff election on April 11.

All three are against any increase in flights or aircraft gates at Burbank Airport.