Grayson County approves TxDOT airport maintenance grant to fund digital communications upgrade

The Grayson County Commissioners Court authorized the county judge to execute and accept the Texas Department of Transportation routine airport maintenance program for fiscal year 2026, approving use of the grant to help pay for an upgrade to the county airport’s communications network and its automated weather observing system, the airport director said.

County officials said the work will replace aging equipment and digitize communications and weather reporting. The airport director told commissioners the program is an annual maintenance grant that requires a local match and that a prior grant paid the first installment; the TxDOT award would pay the second installment of the upgrade.

According to the airport director, the project will replace computers and communications hardware that staff said were about 18 years old and will convert analog systems to digital. The director said the new equipment should be installed in October and that the upgrade will digitize the county’s AWOS weather reporting. The director described the arrangement as “a great deal for us” because the grant covers most of the cost of a larger communications investment the county and its purchasing agent negotiated.

Commissioner Wright moved to authorize the county judge to accept the TxDOT routine airport maintenance program for FY 2026; Commissioner Arthur seconded the motion. The court voted in favor and the motion carried.

The court did not state a dollar amount for the grant on the record beyond the director’s description that the grant would fund the second installment of an approximately $350,000 communications project; the director also said the county must provide a local match (described in the meeting as 10 percent).