Airport Authority: Board member steps down, airport crosses fingers for Community Crossing grant
Board member Brian Craig informed the Dubois County Airport Authority that he would be stepping down from his board position effective immediately.
Craig, who has served on the board since 2012, cited his workload and family priorities as reasons for his departure. Craig works at the family business, Woods Printing in Holland.
“You will be missed,” president Mike Cummings told Craig.
Craig was president during the construction of the new t-hangar and also guided the board through other on-going projects like the runway extension.
The vacancy will be filled by appointment of Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner by September 1st.
Also last night, Huntingburg Airport Manager Travis McQueen reported an application for the Community Crossing grant had been made. “We were the only airport to submit (an application),” said McQueen.
If awarded, the grant would assist in building a new t-hangar at the airport.
The airport built a t-hangar in 2015 for about $640,000 funded with $450,000 in economic development income tax fund from the county and the rest by the airport authority. The ten spaces it provided were filled soon after it opened.
The Indiana Department of Transportation stopped taking applications for the Community Crossings grant on July 29. The airport was one of the 1,592 applications INDOT received from 325 municipalities and counties.
The Community Crossings grant was made available through the passage of House Bill 1001. It works in conjunction with Senate Bill 67 which released $430 million in local option income taxes back to the counties, cities and other taxing entities from which it was originally withheld.
With the narrow definition of whether or not airports qualify for the grants, McQueen characterized the request as a “hail Mary.” He said, regardless, it’s always worth applying for it in the off-chance it does qualify.
SB 67 specifically identified airport capital projects as eligible.
Also at the meeting:
-Nick Isenberg with Woolpert Engineering reports that the Federal Aviation Authority and INDOT are reviewing the grant application for the airport layout plan. He reported the firm had also contacted the USDA to investigate options for funding assistance for the hangar expansion plan. A meeting has been set up in which he will determine where the airport is in the process of securing financial assistance.
-Cummings reported that the budget committee has presented a flat budget to be approved for 2017. Its differences are minor but include moving funds around to help make room for a small pay increase for the employees. The budget amount is $398,750.00 with an additional $300,000 towards the cumulative building fund. The budget is reviewed by the Huntingburg Common Council and Dubois County Commissioners before final approval is given by the Dubois County Council.
-Announced that on Friday at 5:00 pm, an open house will be held at the airport public terminal to name the facility after its founder, Forrest M. “Frosty” Jones who raised the money in 1938 to purchase the property and have a gravel runway constructed.
“He walked down 4th Street in Huntingburg and raised the funds ($2,700) to buy the property,” Cummings said.
The board is interested in preserving and promoting the history of the airport and has invited Judge Hugo Songer to deliver a dedication and a presentation to the two surviving daughters in Frosty’s memory.
Cummings said that if he were alive, he would be 109 years old this year. The building will be named the “Frosty Jones Terminal Building.”
-Heard the new bathroom shuttle to be used by passengers and pilots stopping at the airport to refuel was fully in service. The golf cart purchase was approved last month after an airport tenant complained that visitors were having difficulty making their way the 1,400 feet from the fuel area to the terminal building for potty breaks. According to McQueen, the cart will also be used for other activities at the airport and not be solely relegated to bathroom duties.
