Commission approves up to $500,000 for Bridgeport airport terminal completion split over two fiscal years

The Harrison County Commission voted to provide up to $500,000 to assist completion of the new terminal at Bridgeport Airport, with the funds to be spread across the current and next fiscal year and drawn from coal-severance and video-lottery revenue.

County staff described an approach that uses $100,000 from coal-severance funds in the current fiscal year and $100,000 from coal-severance next fiscal year, with the remaining $300,000 to come from video-lottery (account 02/06) funds split across the two years ($150,000 each year). The commission added a “not to exceed $500,000” cap to the authorization.

An airport representative described the terminal project as part of a larger $70 million program and said bids and preconstruction work are underway. Commissioners asked whether the $500,000 could be staged across budgets and where the money would come from; county staff said the coal-severance money and the video-lottery account were available and would be used for the allocation. The administrator explained the process would use requisitions in the current fiscal year for the coal funds and budgeted allocations for the next fiscal year.

The motion was seconded and carried; no detailed contract or disbursement schedule was adopted at the meeting beyond the funding source guidance. Commissioners asked staff to prepare the necessary requisitions and budget entries and to report back to the commission on timing.