With spring just around the corner, members of the Carroll County Airport Commission discussed the resumption of monthly Fly-In events. Those gatherings ordinarily take place on the third Saturday of the month, but the commissioners are already looking ahead to April 2024. A total eclipse is expected to bring additional air traffic to the area. The April Fly-In will be moved up a week, to coincide with a total eclipse on April 8, and the airport can receive additional exposure from that event.
At the January meeting, Larkin Floyd, owner of Tri-State Airmotive, asked about extending his lease. He asked for a five-year lease extension on his primary building, in exchange for granting the remaining property and buildings to the airport immediately. At that time, the commissioners spoke in favor of the arrangement, but they tabled the matter until some details could be finalized. Last week, commissioners approved the extension of Floyd’s lease.
In other business:
- Fuel sales continued at a brisk rate. At the January meeting, commissioners had discussed raising prices to take advantage of higher fuel prices in the region. Since the most recent fuel purchase was almost exhausted, the commission decided to keep their markup to 25 percent. Almost 2,200 gallons were sold in January, and 1,500 gallons had already been sold at the time of the Feb. 17 commission meeting.
- Commissioners voted to add three cameras to the airport’s system of security cameras. Each of the new cameras is expected to cost about $200, and notices will be sent directly to commissioners, rather than to an expensive monitoring service.
- A tee-hangar and a hangar 40 feet square both became available in the past month, and they were quickly rented to new tenants. In addition, two others have contacted the airport about building new hangars with ground leases.
- Airport Manager Mark Pepple was authorized to purchase another courtesy car. In closing comments, several commissioners praised the way Pepple has taken on his position.