Aviation Commission looks to Albany airport’s future

ALBANY — Albany-Dougherty Aviation Commission board members were looking to the future during that board’s monthly meeting Monday.

The Aviation Commission heard reports about plans to get land at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport GRAD-ready, about automation of the airport’s parking lot, and about the fixed-base operations and Capital Improvement Program projects being considered at the airport.

City of Albany Transportation Director David Hamilton said he expects reports required to certify some 84 acres of land at the airport as Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development, which would enhance the property’s desirability with interested developers, to be completed within the next month and a ruling on certification to follow soon after.

“The whole process is going well,” Hamilton told the board. “We’ve submitted the required geotechnical report, and we’ll have a required environmental report ready in about a month. That should complete the package we’re supposed to send to the state.

“We’re also moving forward with the automation process in our parking lot. When it’s fully automated, it should expedite getting vehicles in and out of the parking lots. We’ll have a pay-on-foot machine inside the terminal that will allow customers to pay with cash, which we’ll encourage everyone to use. The automated machines in the parking lots will take credit cards only.”

Alan Mathis, who manages fixed-base operations at the airport, said there had been a “night and-day transformation” in FBO facilities at the airport. He said future plans at the installation are a determining factor in how much money he will spend on further improvements.

“It doesn’t make sense to put a lot of money into renovations when there are plans to rebuild the facilities,” Mathis said. “We’ve made tremendous improvements out there, thanks in large part to David (Hamilton) working with us. But instead of funding a complete overhaul, we’ve invested our money in personnel.

“Despite the tepid waters of aviation right now, we’ve invested $123,000 in personnel, and I believe we are close to reaching that balance (of service to facilities improvements).”

Mathis is a retired Navy carrier F18 pilot.

Consultant Jacob Redwine said he will update the board on CIP upgrade plans over the next few weeks as he looks to work with Hamilton in applying for available state and federal funds. Redwine said federal funding is more desirable because it comes with 90 percent coverage and only 5 percent local investment. (The other 5 percent comes from the state.) State-only projects pay 75 percent of project costs with a 25 percent local match.

The board decided to discuss a possible extended future meeting to update the airport’s strategic plan.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Airport Public Safety Chief Bernard Ford gave commissioners an update on a recent disaster drill conducted at the airport.

“The drill went off without a hitch,” Ford said. “We had some 65 Turner Job Corps students who volunteered to serve as victims in the crash simulation, and we got a good response from the Albany Fire Department, Albany Police Department, Dougherty EMS, the coroner’s office and from Phoebe (Putney Memorial Hospital).”