BROWNSVILLE – Land and homeowners in a Brownsville colonia are learning more about the fate of their property.

The Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport is looking to buy property from the Sunny Skies colonia for an expansion project.

Airport officials held a meeting Wednesday to answer residents’ questions and concerns. It was a full house at the meeting as residents learned the airport’s plan for the property and how they plan to purchase it.

While some residents saw this coming, they still find it hard to believe.

“We’ve known this was going to happen. It’s just – we didn’t think it would happen now,” said Noelia Diaz, a concerned resident.

Diaz’s family moved into Sunny Skies colonia 30 years ago.

“It’s great that the city is expanding. We need more jobs, more revenue and stuff. We just want it to be fair,” said Diaz.

Many asked about the appraisal process. Those impacted want to make sure they’re getting exactly what their land is worth.

The airport’s appraisal team explained they would be visiting personally with home owners in the near future.

Airport director, Bryant Walkers, explained they are not in any hurry to move people out of their homes.

“The reason we have to get started now for a project that will probably happen in four to five years is that we are going to run into problems; we’ll run into environmental problems, we’ll run into problems with titles. That sort of thing with the property,” stated Walkers.

While Diaz said that her family is OK with the airport’s plan, not all of her neighbors are on board.

“They fought a lot to get what they have now,” said Diaz.

Walkers said that this is a project the airport plans to follow through.

Wednesday’s meeting is the first of many the airport plans to have.