County Council approves $450,000 for new hangar
The county council approved advertising for $450,000 to be used to build a t-hangar at the Huntingburg Airport.
Space is in demand at the airport, where existing hangars are currently at full capacity. The new t-hangar will have 10 spaces to lease for smaller aircraft and is expected to bring income for the airport.
According to airport board member Fred Souders, the lack of hangar space at the airport has forced Dubois County residents to store planes in French Lick and Washington. “These are taxpayers and businesses paying taxes in this county that have to store their planes outside the county,” he told the council at a previous meeting.
The new hangar is a preferred design for aircraft owners. The space will allow planes to be parked in individual slots in the building with direct access to the tarmac through a concrete pad. The building will be placed to the south of the existing hangars and buildings at the airport.
Current engineering estimates for the hangar are about $540,000; the airport has about $150,000 in savings to use for the construction and any overruns during its construction. Woolpert, the contracted engineering firm for the airport, has submitted site plans and construction estimates for the building. Board approval to seek bids is expected to take place at the next Dubois County Airport Authority meeting. Construction will begin in August with completion in November.
Mark Brescher raised concerns about the cost of the building and floated the idea of a loan to the county unit. “The airport borrowed about $318,000 to buy about 270 acres,” he said. “And that worked out pretty well.”
Souders, who attended last night, told the board he didn’t understand why the county would loan money to itself. “This is your hangar. When you build a new highway garage, you don’t loan the highway department money,” he said. “There is no private business running the airport anymore; you are. Travis (McQueen) is making a profit on the fuel sales for county. Why would the county make a loan to itself?”
“I think I would rather give them (airport) money to complete the project,” Councilwoman Martha Wehr said. “I don’t think the few taxpayers who have complained about the expenditure realize this is an economic development project.”
The council was also concerned about whether the hangar space would be filled easily and at what cost for the space. French Lick and Washington airports rent space for about $90 a month. Although the cost of the leases for the space has not been determined yet, the demand for space has been identified and the quality of the services and facilities offered at the airport will support the cost for the space.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that these units will be filled,” Mike Cummings, airport board member and interim president of Dubois Strong told the council last night.
Since assuming operations as the fixed-base operator at the airport, traffic and fuel sales has increased dramatically. According to Airport Manager Travis McQueen, the airport is popular for planes that are passing through the area due to the quality of the services and the competitive fuel prices.
Besides the pass-through traffic, the airport is also essential for several local companies who maintain hangars at the airport. Masterbrand Cabinets, Best Home Furnishings, Jasper Engines & Transmissions, OFS Brands and Kimball International all have planes and hangars at the airport.
The motion to advertise for the expenditure passed unanimously.
As will be advertised, the county will allocate the money from the economic development income tax (EDIT) fund to pay for the new hangar. The county has about $11 million in the EDIT fund at this time.
