Owensboro-Daviess County Airport To Receive $1 Million Grant

April 17, 2014
Grant will be used for capital improvement projects

April 17--Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport received word Wednesday that the facility will again receive $1 million in federal aviation funds for capital projects.

Airport manager Bob Whitmer told the board of directors Wednesday afternoon the money will be used to pay off the remainder of the terminal expansion and renovation project, which was completed in 2012.

"We may have the money by the end of this week and pay that loan off, and we'll be debt free on our terminal," Whitmer said during a board meeting in the airport offices.

The Federal Aviation Administration provides $1 million to airports that have more than 10,000 paid boardings in a given year. The funding the airport received was based on its 2012 boardings, when more than 30,000 people used the airport, either through Allegiant Air, Cape Air or through charter services like Modern Welding or Mid-America Jet.

In a press release, Gov. Steve Beshear said: "These grants help our local and regional airports continue to provide vital connections that keep our state's economic opportunities soaring. We are pleased to see the Owensboro-Daviess County airport can continue its renovations."

About $1.1 million remains to be paid on the terminal project. Whitmer said 90 percent of the cost, $992,559, will come from the federal grant. The remaining $110,000 will come from the state's Department of Aviation and local funds from the airport board.

Paying off the loan will only leave about $7,000 in federal funds for use this year, Whitmer said. That money will be allocated to the airport beacon relocation project; Whitmer said the current beacon is outdated and not centrally placed for aircraft and that a portion of the beacon had to be blocked because the light was shining into the windows of the airport's control tower.

The state aviation department and the airport board currently have about $400 each to contribute to the beacon project.

"The beacon light costs $50,000," Whitmer said. "We have to come up with $42,000." Whitmer said he was confident the board would have the money and said he hoped to be ready to install the new beacon somewhere near the intersection of the airport's two runways sometime this summer.

Whitmer said he anticipates being reimbursed for the money the airport spends on a beacon next year, when the FAA issues its $1 million grants to airports again.

"We have already qualified for next year by exceeding 10,000 enplanements" in 2013, Whitmer said. Whitmer estimated there were about 23,000 paid boardings last year. The number of paid boardings was lower than in 2012 "because we don't have Las Vegas (flights) now," Whitmer said. Allegiant Air stopped its flights from Owensboro to Las Vegas in August 2012.

Other projects are tentatively scheduled for 2015, including work on the terminal apron, installing signs for taxiing planes and purchasing snow removal equipment. Those projects will be scheduled after federal funds are available, Whitmer said.

"Next year, when we get the $1 million, we're not going to have this big loan payment" from the terminal project, Whitmer said.

James Mayse, 691-7303, [email protected]

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