Money will pay for expansion of hangar area

Federal stimulus funds will be headed to Fayette County in a big way, specifically at Falcon Field in Peachtree City.

A $2 million federal grant has been approved for the airport to begin work on its “hangar area C” which is on the southeast side of the runway. The project includes a significant amount of fill dirt and will end with a paved taxiway to reach the area, with a paved ramp so the airport can offer sites on which to build hangars.

The authority offers long-term leases on hangar space but construction of each hangar is up to the entity or person leasing the space.

“We want to maximize the most we can in the stimulus package to get as much dirt in place as we can,” said Airport Manager John Crosby.

The $2 million grant requires no local or state match and is a fully-funded project, Crosby said.

The authority thanked State Rep. Matt Ramsey for his assistance in securing the funds. Ramsey in turn credited Gov. Sonny Perdue who had to sign off on releasing the funds for the project.

Ramsey explained that the projects funded by the stimulus package had to be “shovel ready” to gain the federal grants.

The only utilities that will be installed in conjunction with the project will be sewer lines because the are so deep officials don’t want to disturb them with additional work that will be done on the hangar area, Crosby noted.