Tuesday, August 16th, 2016
Officials seek federal funds for airport upgrade
By Jared Mauch
NEW KNOXVILLE - Planned construction at the Neil Armstrong Airport continues to move forward as officials hope to complete work by 2019, the 50th anniversary of Armstrong's famous voyage to the moon.
Auglaize County commissioners and other airport officials on Monday met with U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, at the county-owned airport outside New Knoxville to discuss the project. Officials still need about $750,000 to pay for the proposed new terminal and storage building, estimated to cost about $1.3 million.
The project also includes extending water and sewer lines from New Knoxville, estimated to cost $1.2 million. The airport recently was annexed into the village. Officials want to switch from well water to treated village water, which would improve quality and save the county money in the long run.
Commissioners last week met with a Washington lobbying firm representative, who said funding applications most likely will need to be tied to job creation, county commissioner Doug Spencer said.
The terminal is a gateway to the county for many companies, he noted, but it would be hard to credit new jobs specifically to terminal construction.
Economic activity involving the airport includes people going to the Country Concert in Fort Loramie and NASCAR drivers going to Eldora Speedway. Officials from companies such as Crown Equipment Corp. and Honda also use the airport as do a number of recreational fliers, Spencer said.
More recently Walmart and Meijer officials have been using the airport as construction continues on a new greenhouse south of Wapakoneta, airport manager Matt Bailey said.
The greenhouse is to be located on the south side of U.S. 33 south of Wapakoneta. It is designed to grow vegetables year round for local retailers to sell and is scheduled for completion later this year, county administrator Erica Preston said.
Commissioners asked if Jordan knew of any government funds that could be used to help pay for the project. The congressman said he would assist as best as he could and make any necessary contacts.
"We'll see what we can do. … We're in debt. We've got a big debt problem, and I'm one of those guys that feel that we've got to cut spending," he said. "If there are current programs that are there to help, we'll go fight for it."
The project has been split up into three parts. Work to extend the water and sewer lines is expected to begin in April and be completed by the end of 2017. After that, construction will begin on the terminal, followed by the storage building, airport authority board president Brent Richter said.
Spencer said Federal Aviation Administration has provided grant money to help pay for the water and sewer upgrades and the storage building. However, FAA officials do not consider new terminals to be a top priority, he added.
Having the project completed by Armstrong's anniversary is not a deal breaker, but officials also want to complete the buildings before planned maintenance begins on the 5,500-foot runway in a few years, he said.
"If we don't get this project done, we're afraid that the FAA is going to say we need to put all of our time and dollars into that runway," Spencer said.
