LISA HOBBS - News Editor
Warren County Memorial Airport will be shut down for 30 days, according to manager Jim Dyer.
“The airport is shut down now for 30 days, unfortunately. So, September will also be a low month. The state has come in and is spending $1.1 million on fixing all the cracks and resealing very square foot of paved surface, just not the parking lot. Then, remarking everything.”
It closed Sept. 9 and will reopen Oct. 9.
That information was presented during Thursday’s county Economic and Agriculture Committee meeting.
Dyer continued, “They did this three years ago. It didn’t take. The state came back and said, ‘We specified the wrong stuff. It’s not really working like we wanted. We are going to come do it again.’ So, in return for this very expensive paving job, we are down for 30 days. The Airport Commission voted to waive the rent for that period in which pilots cannot get to their hangers and cannot fly.”
Commissioner Carl D. Bouldin stated, “That’s fair.”
“The commercial establishment there will pay rent, because they’ve stuffed a bunch of airplanes in the hangers and they are going to work on them all month. So, they are happy to pay rent. Of course, we are happy to get it.”
Dyer provided information about the crash that recently occurred at the end of its runway.
“As you all know, we had a helicopter accident last week,” Dyer stated. “I want to say that Centertown Fire Department, the EMS people and the sheriff’s department all performed beautifully, as did the airport staff. So, everything went the way emergency procedures said it should go. I reported it to the NTSB and FAA. I got on the phone and texted pictures. They released us to clear the wreckage. We had the airport back up in less than three hours, which I thought was really, really good.”
During this meeting Bouldin was named chairman, Commissioner Brad Hillis named vice chairman, and Stephen Potter secretary. Also on the committee are Commissioners Ron Lee and Cam Montgomery.
Photo provided by Jack May.