May 16--MOULTRIE -- The Moultrie Municipal Airport is receiving a grant that will both deal with a pressing need and take another step toward a significant upgrade.
Last week, the Moultrie City Council voted to accept federal and state funding totaling almost $81,000 and to match it with almost $2,600 in local money to make repairs to the airport's runway and acquire land for an expansion.
The runway is made of asphalt, Airport Authority Chairman Tony Brock explained to The Observer on Wednesday, and like the asphalt on highways, it eventually cracks. If there are enough cracks, it makes for a rough take-off and landing, and Brock said pilots of corporate jets from Sanderson Farms and National Beef have complained to airport management about the roughness of the runway.
Part of the grant accepted May 7 will go toward sealing the cracks in the runway and taxiway.
"They need to be resurfaced, to be honest with you," Brock said, but he said sealing the cracks will do for now.
The rest of the grant money will be used to acquire land that will let the airport extend its runway from the current 5,127 feet to about 5,500 feet, he said. The long-term plan is to extend it to about 6,000 feet.
"It's a safety factor for jets," he said.
The land must be acquired before the federal government will pay for engineering studies on the project, Brock said. He plans for engineering to be in next year's budget, and the actual extension to be some time after that, based on the engineering and available funds.
When the runway is extended, the whole thing will be resurfaced, Brock said.
Copyright 2013 - The Moultrie Observer, Ga.
