Aviation Commission discusses ongoing, future projects

ALBANY — The Albany-Dougherty Aviation Commission placed its focus on the future during the board’s monthly meeting Monday evening.

City of Albany Transportation Director David Hamilton, consultant Jacob Redwine with Holt Consulting, and airport fixed-base operations manager Alan Mathis gave reports on plans for the airport’s immediate and distant future. While the airport’s five-year strategic plan did not mention a jetway passenger boarding bridge that would protect passengers from the elements during boarding and deplaning, Hamilton said the commission should bump that item up its to-do list.

“The jetway may not have been in the strategic plan (that was developed by the Aviation Commission several years ago), but I can tell you it’s high on the city manager’s list,” Hamilton said. “It’s something we need to look at.”

Board members Dr. Charles Gillespie and Keith Fletcher had mentioned the need for a jetway at previous meetings.

Redwine, who is responsible for long-term planning at the airport, said he’d made preliminary inquiries into the cost of both attached and portable passenger bridges.

“A full-blown bridge with air conditioning and heating and water service for the airplanes typically run around a million dollars,” the consultant said. “And there could be another $300,000 or so with add-ons. The accordion-type bridge that retracts when not in use is going to cost somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000.

“If you worked hard on this project, I believe you could get this done with a 95-5 percent split, with 90 percent coming from federal dollars, 5 percent from the state and 5 percent local.”

Among the immediate future projects mentioned by Hamilton were the jetway, full parking automation that will significantly increase airport revenues (from around the current $6,500 to between $220,000 and $230,000, according to Hamilton), design and construction of a new parking lot exit, demolition of deteriorating hangars at the airport and certification of 85 acres of land at the airport as Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development.

“There are 50 GRAD-certified sites in the state of Georgia, including one at the Pecan Grove Industrial Park across the road,” Hamilton said. “I’ve talked with an expert on GRAD certification, and he’s given me an initial cost of $57,000 to do a geotechnical survey, environmentals and to ID infrastructure needed to make our property GRAD-certified.”

Board Chairman Dr. Frank Middleton said, “That will significantly move us up on the radar.”

Redwine offered a review of the airport’s strategic plan through FY 2021, work that includes runway improvements, design and construction of a new aviation terminal, demolition of existing hangars and construction of new hangars.

Mathis said his group has started preparation for the demolition of the airport’s North Hangars, the first slated to be taken down in anticipation of future replacements.

Also at the meeting, Middleton said investigation by City Attorney Nathan Davis showed that the board could not, as suggested by Gillespie, name the meeting room at the airport terminal in honor of the late Dr. William Mayher, who was a long-time member of the Aviation Commission.