The Carroll County Airport Commission had a two-hour meeting last week, and discussions wandered through future plans for land acquisition and hangar construction.
Consulting Engineer Dan Clinton outlined the airport’s priorities for upcoming grants. The runway needs to be sealed every few years, and a new sealer required by the Federal Aviation Administration will be more expensive, and fewer contractors work with that sealer. Long-term plans will include land acquisition, to create space for more hangars.
Commissioners have recently discussed building a new gang hangar, but Clinton said the airport may have to reconsider. The Arkansas Department of Aeronautics used to issue grants paying 80 percent of hangar construction, up to $400,000. That upper limit has been reduced to $250,000, Clinton said, meaning the airport would have to pay a larger share of the initial cost. That would greatly increase the time needed to recoup the investment and start generating funds for the airport.
Clinton said he would proceed with taking bids on a gang hangar, although he will ask bidders to include a clause setting a bid price for six months. That will allow time for the airport to apply for a grant if the state returns to previous support limits. Clinton will seek bids on a hangar 90 x 110 ft. to house multiple planes for different owners.
Clinton continued with more discussion of land acquisition, explaining the need for hiring a land acquisition company. That extra cost would be included in grants and the company would do a better job of negotiating with landowners and satisfying government regulations. Grants will only pay for land acquisition after the fact, however, and the commission would have to finance the purchase until receiving reimbursement.
That led to a discussion of whether County Judge Sam Barr would agree to committing the county to a short-term loan. Justice of the Peace John Howerton attends CCAC meetings as a representative of the quorum court, and he asked Clinton about the guarantees. After hearing that a grant would include language guaranteeing repayment, Howerton said Barr and the quorum court would probably agree to a loan.
Although a land acquisition company would handle any negotiations, commissioners spent some time considering which adjoining properties would offer the most advantages. The commission will issue a request for proposals before hiring a land acquisition company. Clinton said the airport might have a contract in place by the start of the year.
Commissioner Sandy Martin led a conversation on leases, saying the airport still does not receive any money for several hangars leased under “good old boy” terms by previous commissioners. Cheap ground leases with artificially low renewal clauses helped to populate the airport, but they don’t help the airport’s perennial funding problems. “For the past few years, we’ve worked toward consistency in our leases,” Martin said.
County Clerk Connie Doss attended the meeting and asked to have copies of all the airport’s leases at her office. She also asked for a complete copy of commission bylaws, along with start and end dates for each commissioner’s term.
Some of the commissioners thought they were serving seven-year terms, but Doss said their bylaws call for five-year terms, limited to two consecutive terms. She explained that some libraries had failed to submit board members to the quorum court for approval, and the JPs passed a blanket resolution confirming the terms of those board members. The quorum court would have to pass a similar resolution to formalize the terms of the commissioners.
Martin discussed the 2022 budget, which will include a new account to hold reserve funds for emergencies. All approved the proposed budget.
In his monthly report, Airport Manager Michael Pfeifer said 20 aircraft came in for the October Fly-in. The November 20 Fly-in was moved to lunchtime instead of breakfast. He also said he had contacted Equity Bank to set up a new account to serve as a reserve and back-up fund.
The annual audit has been completed, with “no surprises,” Pfeifer said. His report also included a notice from the FAA that several trees have grown up into the official approach airspace and will need to be removed or cut back.
With an extensive waiting list for hangars, Pfeifer asked what to do if a hangar becomes available but does not meet the needs of the next person on the list. Commissioners agreed that the candidate would remain with the first right of refusal for subsequent hangars.