MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake City Council members debated whether installing a chain link fence at the municipal airport could swap safety for security.

The Moses Lake Airport Commission recommended using $19,586 from the airport budget to place 1,600 feet of fencing on the north and south ends of the airport, preventing vehicles from driving onto the runway and taxiway.

The fence would be four feet tall except at the end of each runway, where it would be three feet tall.

Councilman Richard Pearce, who is on the commission's steering committee, said the commission also plans to install more security cameras around the airport and in the coming years would like to put in similar fencing on the east and west sides of the facility.

"They're really concerned about people driving onto the airport from unauthorized places and (gas) theft has occurred," he said.

But Councilwoman Karen Liebrecht expressed her own concerns about the project's cost and the potential hazard of erecting a fence at the end of the runway.

"I think for myself it's a huge amount of money for something that's going to cause a hazard to pilots that come in and out of that airport," she said. "With the economy as it is, this is a poor use of taxpayer money and shouldn't be approved."

Pearce shrugged off any notion of an increased safety risk, explaining the fence would be placed in front of an existing ditch and irrigation canal.

"I fly in and out of there all the time. I'm comfortable with it," he said. "The added jeopardy of the fence is not that much."

He also took issue with Liebrecht's assertion that taxpayer dollars will be used for the fence, saying this and other airport projects are financed by rent money generated at the airport and placed into a designated city fund.

The 2011 city budget shows $102,700 in the airport fund, while next year's preliminary budget show's $106,700.

Councilman Bill Ecret suggested postponing the issue until Liebrecht's safety concerns could be investigated further, but Pearce said the fencing has been talked about for more than a year now, and any further delay would likely push the project into next spring.

"It's been discussed by the commission and the airport users," Pearce said. "They're willing to weigh the options - 'do I want this sticking up three feet or do I want better security?'"

The Federal Aviation Administration encourages all airports to build perimeter fences for security reasons, according to City Attorney Katherine Kenision, who said she's "not particularly concerned" about the city's liability upon building a three-foot fence.

After testimony from Darrin Jackson, whose Jackson Flight Center is located at the airport, Ecret suggested amending the project to build a fence only on the south side of the facility.

Pearce rejected the amendment and moved to authorize the project in full, with the majority of the council voting with him.

Ecret and Liebrecht remained opposed.