Council discusses repaving for airport
Members of the Russellville City Council discussed options for re-paving the runway at Russellville Municipal Airport at their most recent Monday meeting.
Ryan Reed with Garver Engineering presented three options at varying price points for the city to consider submitting for funding.
“We have a lot to think about, but we do have a little bit before we have to make a decision,” said Russellville Mayor David Grissom.
The base bid to re-pave the runway would be $1.5 million; an alternate option would cost a little over $2 million. If the city chooses to add another seal coat to the runway instead of re-paving, the cost would be $412,000.
City clerk Belinda Miller said these are federally funded projects, which means the city would pay 5 percent in. The total project would cost the city either $75,000 or $102,000, depending on which route the council chooses.
Grissom questioned whether the city will have to pay that 5 percent on the project, however, because of the CARES Act.
“The CARES Act made it so that all airport projects receive 100 percent funding,” Grissom said. “So if we would have applied for this last year, we would owe nothing. I want to know if we might be looking at the same thing for next year.”
Reed said he did not know if the CARES Act would be extended to cover upcoming projects but said there was some possibility the re-paving project could fall under that.
Explore Aviation owner Chris Williams, who is taking over management of the airport as former manager Harry Mattox retires, said the project comes at a much-needed time, with the center lines and numbers on the runway fading and the pavement reaching the end of its lifespan.
“We are getting close to the point where SAA would shut us down because you can’t see the center lines or the numbers,” Williams said.
Williams said the FFA is requiring the runway be re-paved or re-sealed because of its condition.
“Without doing this project, we wouldn’t have the city airport,” Williams said. “That is why this is so important – just to keep things running.”
The city also extended its contract with the Franklin County Commission for solid waste collection. The current contract ends Sept. 30, but the council approved an extension of six months.
“The reason I wanted the six-month extension is because it gives us time to look at developing our own solid waste program,” Grissom said. “It is something the city had a few years ago that we are looking at doing again.”
