Resurfacing the runway and taxiway at Brunswick Golden Isles Airport is a must-do project, but it will likely have to wait due to cuts in annual Federal Aviation Administration grants.
The Glynn County Airport Commission lacks the means to make up for federal reduction quickly, officials say.
The airport commission will still receive annual FAA grants designated for airport maintenance and improvements. But instead of getting 95 percent from the aviation administration, the commission will get only 90 percent.
Additionally, the state, which used to provide half of the remaining 5 percent, will not increase its funding, leaving the local commission to cover 7.5 percent, 5 percent more than previously expected.
To complete the two major projects on tap this year -- design of a new runway and taxiway and replacement of an aging fence around the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport -- airports Executive Director Steve Brian said the commission will have to contribute around $79,000.
Under the previous formula, the commission would have paid only around $25,000.
"It will be very difficult. That is a big change," Brian said.
While the design for the new runway and taxiway surface will happen this year, completion of the $11 million construction project will have to wait until the commission can save up enough money to cover what the FAA will not contribute, Brian said. That could take several years, he added.
"Seven and a half percent of $11 million is a lot," Brian said.
The runway and taxiway will last a few more years, but the updates are becoming more necessary by the month, and that is not good, he said.
The runway and taxiway are beginning to deteriorate more rapidly as the top layer of asphalt nears the end of its 20-year lifespan. Moisture seeping between the top layer of asphalt and the one below it is causing bumps and cracks to expand.
When Brian was returning from a recent trip to Tokyo where he was watching his daughter, Morgan Brian, play soccer with the U.S. National U-20 team, he said the bumps were noticeable.
"I could feel it when we landed and were rolling along the taxiway," Brian said.
Cracks have been patched and filled with tar and slurry where necessary.
Brian is confident the projects will be done, but maintaining the airport to meet federal codes and regulations will become more difficult with less grant money from the FAA, he said.
Copyright 2012 - The Brunswick News, Ga.
