Lago Vista airport advisory board backs $62,500 letter-of-intent for engineering, seeks FAA exemption acknowledgement

At a meeting of the Lago Vista Airport Advisory Board, members voted unanimously to draft a letter of intent (LOI) pledging $62,500 in local funds to support engineering for a runway and electrical rehabilitation project and the local match for an automated weather observation system (AWOS) installation.

The vote came after board members said the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has forecasted a rehabilitation project for the airport with an estimated total cost of about $6.6 million. James Peck, vice chairman of the Airport Advisory Board, said TxDOT intends to offer the project as a 90/10 matching grant and that the agency has programmed the AWOS replacement for fiscal 2026. Peck said TxDOT’s initial estimate for the AWOS was “just under $200,000” and that the city’s 10 percent share for the AWOS would be about $15,000.

Why it matters: the TxDOT forecast and the planned engineering work would allow the city to move past a years-long compliance and access dispute tied to federal policy and position the airport to receive state block-grant funds sooner than expected. Board members said resolving compliance questions also…