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Council approves airport construction contracts, easements and sends $135.7 million CIP to FAA
Summary
The city approved multiple airport construction agreements and accepted briefings on easements and a $135,651,402 Texarkana Regional Airport capital improvement plan to be sent to the FAA; public hearings on two easements were scheduled for Oct. 28.
Texarkana City Council on Oct. 14 approved a package of airport‑related items including construction contracts for apron work and runway design and accepted briefings on easements and a 2025–2030 capital improvement plan totaling $135,651,402 to be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The consent agenda, moved by Council Member Matlock and seconded by Council Member Hart, included multiple agreements tied to the Texarkana Regional Airport fiscal year 2024 capital budget: • Resolution 2024‑123: Phase 2 agreement with McClelland Engineering for apron construction ($252,611.87). • Resolution 2024‑124: Phase 2 agreement with GDS LLC d/b/a Ambrosi Contracting for apron construction ($2,168,610). • Resolution 2024‑125: Agreement with McClelland Engineering for runway 4/22 extension/expand design ($480,000). • Resolution 2024‑126: Agreement with McClelland Engineering for an additional runway design element ($80,050).
The consent agenda was approved without recorded opposition.
At first briefing, Airport Director Paul Merrick described two easement items and the airport’s capital plan. One easement (resolved as item 2024‑120) would allow Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) to place an electrical transformer to connect a solar panel array and power lighting along TXK Boulevard; council members were briefed that lights currently installed remain dark until the transformer is energized. Merrick summarized the purpose: "This easement is to allow SWEPCO to place an electric transformer that allows to begin collecting electricity from the solar panel array that we have as well as provide power to the lights that come in on, TXK Boulevard." The public hearing on that easement and related airport briefing items was scheduled for the council's Oct. 28 meeting.
A second easement (item 2024‑121) with Project Moonbeam would allow that developer, working with the Chamber of Commerce, to clear and maintain a narrow strip of airport property south of East 19th Street in perpetuity; Merrick said this would relieve the airport of future costs to clear the area.
Merrick also briefed the council on the airport’s 2025–2030 capital improvement plan, a document the FAA requires annually to support grant applications. The plan, in the packet as item 2024‑122, listed projects including a runway extension, runway overlay, taxiway extensions and widening, and a proposed new aircraft maintenance hangar. Merrick told the council the new hangar would likely be financed as an industrial revenue bond and would most likely be held by Texarkana, Arkansas, because the airport itself does not have bond‑issuing authority.
Council members praised the new Jim E. Yates terminal and received the airport briefing; no council amendments were made to the listed agreements. The easements and capital plan will return for public hearing and formal action at the next meeting.
