Feb. 04--HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- The City of Hartsville has landed a $1 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the runway at the Hartsville Airport.
The city's Airport Advisory Committee was told recently that the city was awarded the grant.
The city will be required to put up $52,492 in matching funds for the grant. About $20,000 of that will come from budgeted funds that had originally been set aside to pay for hangar repairs at the airport. City officials and Hartsville City Council decided that the runway project is more pressing than the hangar.
The grant will pay for runway safety projects and obstruction removal -- trees that are encroaching into the runway glide path. FAA officials told city officials some time ago that the trees pose a safety hazard.
The city solicited bids for the project and the winning bid came in at $849,830, according to city officials.
W.K. Dickson, the consulting firm that the city uses on issues related to the airport, will oversee the project. Estimated fees for that will be $200,000, putting the total for the project at $1,049,830. While a smaller portion of that will pay for the tree removal, most of that will go toward making other safety improvements to the 5,001-foot runway, including grading and extending the runway safety area.
Phil Gardner, city director of Parks and Leisure Services, which includes the airport, said work on the runway safety area has already begun.
The FAA is footing the bill for 90 percent of the total project cost. The state and the city will each be required to chip in a 5 percent funding match, $52,492 from each.
The project is a required FAA Runway Safety Area (RSA) project that will bring the airport up to current FAA safety area standards, according to officials.
One of the requirements for receiving the grant is that the city must maintain the safest possible operating environment at the airport for at least 20 years after receipt of the grant.
The city applied for the grant last year.
Copyright 2014 - The Messenger, Hartsville, S.C.
