Friday, May 11, 2001
Friday, May 11, 2001 |
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Aircraft repair facility shows interest in Falcon Field; redesign of Hangar Area B considered By JOHN
MUNFORD
With a company expressing interest in locating a FAA-certified repair station at Falcon Field, the Peachtree City Airport Authority may ask for a third redesign of its Hangar Area B project. The project, which is currently designed to have six hangars, may be redesigned to combine two of those hangars into one facility. Airport Authority Chairwoman Catherine Nelmes said at Wednesday's authority meeting that it would be nice to attract such a facility to Falcon Field. "It's what people have been telling us they need services," Nelmes told The Citizen after the meeting. The company that has approached Nelmes and Airport Manager Jim Savage with its interest could also locate at the Hunting hangar facility or another vacant area, she added. "They have an interest, and company representatives have been coming to some of our meetings," Nelmes said. Specifically, the airport has a need for a maintenance and avionics facility, Nelmes added. The authority's recent decision to do away with its old commercial fee structure has helped renew interest in commercial operations locating here, Nelmes said. The authority formerly charged commercial operators 2 percent of gross profits, but recently that was dropped. On-airport commercial operators will pay 45 cents per square foot on a monthly basis for space at Hangar Area B, the authority decided during Wednesday's meeting. The action was unanimous. There are several catches in redesigning the current six-hangar configuration planned for Hangar Area B. First, three people have already placed deposits on three of the six hangar locations. In doing so, those people reserved specific hangar sites, leaving three odd sites which likely can't be combined into one larger facility. Another snag preventing a redesign could be the elevations of each hangar site, which may not lead to combining two of the hangar lots, Savage said. A grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the third phase of the Hangar Area B project is expected to be announced soon, Savage noted. The grant would cover $367,000 of the total $407,000 cost to construct the hangar sites. The hangars themselves will be constructed by whomever leases the sites from the authority. The Georgia Department of Transportation is also expected to provide a grant of almost $16,000 for the project, though those funds won't be available right away, Savage noted. That could slow up the project since the DOT won't fund a project that is already under construction, meaning construction must be held until the grant is received, Savage added. The only local funds expected to be used for the project total almost $25,000. In hopes the federal grant comes in sooner than expected, the authority authorized Nelmes to sign the grant acceptance paperwork and other materials related to the construction at Hangar Area B. By setting the fee at 45 cents a square foot at Hangar Area B, the authority is hoping to discourage the use of that area for aircraft storage so full-fledged commercial operations can locate there in the future. The authority has undertaken a marketing campaign trying to get jet-based operators to locate at Hangar Area B with the idea that the authority sees a greater profit on the sales of jet fuel. An operation buying a large amount of jet fuel would provide more funds to the authority than would be gained by the former 2 percent commercial fee.
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