Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Airport Community Events topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Citrus County aviation board asks staff to draft policy after proposal to close runway for kids triathlon
Summary
Organizers asked to briefly close a runway so children can bike a loop as part of a Citrus County Kids Triathlon; board members and FBO operators raised safety, FAA approval and revenue concerns and voted to place a policy-development item on the next agenda.
Chris Molling, representing DRC Sports and the Citrus County Education Foundation, asked the Citrus County Aviation Advisory Board to allow a short, scheduled runway closure so the senior course of the county kids triathlon could include a single loop on the airport runway.
The proposal would close the runway for roughly 60–90 minutes on the morning of the event so about 400 children could use the runway and taxiway as part of a supervised, time-trial bike loop. Molling said event staff would post lighted X’s at the runway ends, station deputies at the gate, use course marshals and perform a finish-of-event foreign object debris sweep. “At 07:30, we’ve got a green light. All the people are in position for the 08:00 start,” Molling said.
Board members and airport tenants raised multiple concerns during a 40‑minute discussion about operational safety, insurance and business impacts. Board member George McDonald said he was “very sensitive about the idea of taking a runway out of service for a non aviation event” and worried about setting a precedent that would require frequent runway closures for other community events. James Chen of Crystal Aero Group—whose FBO would be affected—said he was open to the community benefits but emphasized the FAA approval process and potential business disruption.
Todd Regan, Citrus County aviation project manager, said any closure would require FAA coordination (including NOTAM issuance) and risk‑management review. Several board members asked that county staff, the FBOs and the event organizer document a detailed operations and emergency plan before any closure was approved; Molling offered to work with staff and provide an operations plan and indemnity/insurance documentation.
After discussion, a board member moved that the board agendize, for the next meeting, a recommended policy document setting criteria for reviewing and approving non‑aviation uses of airport property. The motion was seconded and carried on voice vote. The board did not approve a runway closure at this meeting and instructed staff to prepare a draft policy for consideration.
The board asked staff to include FAA requirements, insurance and liability checks, FBO business‑impact mitigation, a required operations plan (including radio monitoring and FOD sweeps), and a county risk review in the draft policy. Members said the draft will be discussed at the next meeting so the board can recommend procedures to the Board of County Commissioners if appropriate.
