Jun. 14—Lorain County commissioners learned during a June 13 meeting they were approved for a $500,000 grant to improve the Lorain County Regional Airport, which is located at 44050 Russia Road in New Russia Township.
Deputy County Administrator Karen Perkins told commissioners the news arrived late and was a bit of a surprise as it didn't make it onto the county's meeting agenda.
Regardless, the commissioners welcomed the information and finalized documents with their signatures before the meeting adjourned.
The county will have to pitch in $32,002 as part of the grant requirements, Perkins told the commissioners.
The commissioners agreed to pay the matching portion of the grant.
The grant is through the Ohio Department of Transportation Aviation program and the deadline to file it complete with the commissioners' signatures was June 13, Perkins said.
"It's one of those things we found out we badly, needed repairs done," said Commission President Dave Moore, adding that he is proud of the staff who organized the grant application process. "Our team found a grant that was available, and our team jumped on it."
The money will be used primarily to rehabilitate and improve the airport tarmac, Perkins said.
The airport facility is owned by the county and has been managed for 20 years by MRK Aviation Inc.
The tarmac is the area of the airport where airplanes taxi, or pull up to a gate, head out to the runway, in addition to the runway itself.
The airport is located on 1,120 acres.
"That's awesome; that's great news for the community," said Veronica Genovesi, a member of the MRK Aviation Inc. team who was working at the airport June 14.
The airport remains busy with aircraft utilizing it daily and has several tenants on the property, including a flight training school.
The commission will meet at 9:30 a.m., June 16.
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