With no urgent business on the agenda, members of the Carroll County Airport Commission used the Jan. 17 meeting to look to the coming year.
Consulting Engineer Joey Wallace outlined the state and federal grants the airport may receive this year. This year’s grant from the Federal Aviation Administration will pay for a set of tee hangars, and that grant should also cover paving around the hangar. Although costs have risen sharply since the last time the airport added hangars, the $700,000 in anticipated funds will cover most of the project. A 90 percent grant from the Arkansas Dept. of Aeronautics will make up any shortfall.
Commissioners discussed some related issues, including adding a restroom in the area of the new hangar. Wallace advised against including that in a grant request, referring to the restroom as “a little bit of a hard sell” with the FAA. Commission Chair Dave Teigen said the airport could add a free-standing restroom in that area, or even a porta-potty.
The airport does not schedule fly-in events during the winter, but commissioners took some time to consider a variety of related issues. The airport clears about $300 per event, but that requires a lot of volunteer labor. Some commissioners pointed out that many of those attending the fly-in meals are locals, and they do not help with the mission of publicizing the airport. Commissioner Chase Tresler said the fly-ins were intended as promotions, not as money-making events. Teigen added that bringing residents to events helps with community awareness of the airport, although he acknowledged that the commission might need to reevaluate the events.
The commission has scheduled breakfast or lunch fly-ins, and those events have helped with publicity. Tresler said breakfast events work better during the hotter months, when the event will be over before the heat of day. Commissioner Sandy Martin asked if reducing the number of fly-ins might make them more special. Teigen asked about targeting specific groups and suggested inviting experimental planes to an event. Tresler cautioned against investing too heavily in any specific event, because weather could easily nullify a fly-in.
Discussion turned to other methods of publicizing the airport. The airport has held a very successful event in the past which attracted remote-control airplanes, but Wallace said the FAA does not want drones and RC planes near an airport. Commissioner Morris Pate said he has heard of a successful event featuring paper-airplane competition.
In other business:
- A hangar tenant has asked about the possibility of installing a tank near a hangar to hold jet fuel. The airport does not sell jet fuel, and few jets can use the 3,500-foot runway. Commissioners had little objection to the tank installation, although they suggested a contract provision that the tank would be removed if the airport ever begins selling jet fuel.
- An existing hangar at the western end of the airport is slated for demolition in the spring, and most of the pilots who had planes in that hangar have found new accommodations already. The owner of the last of the displaced aircraft appealed to the commission for help in finding a fully enclosed hangar for his plane.
- Airport Manager Mark Pepple said he is working with someone on a proposed ground lease, and the process is almost complete.