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Commission approves $175,000 FDOT grant agreement for Perry airport taxi-lane work; county discusses broader airport development
Summary
Taylor County approved a Florida Department of Transportation grant agreement for $175,000 toward rehabilitation, construction and realignment of a taxi lane at the Perry airport and discussed potential airport revenue projects and master-plan updates.
The Taylor County Board of County Commissioners approved a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) public transportation grant and resolution for $175,000 toward rehabilitation, construction and realignment work (taxi lane phase 1) at the Perry airport. The financial project number cited was 443552-4954-35; the county said the grant represents 5% of the project cost, and the project’s activated cost was stated at $3,500,000.
County staff and commissioners discussed that many recent airport projects have been driven by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety and regulatory requirements rather than traffic increases. Melody (county airport staff) and other staff said the realignment and other recent work are required by FAA safety standards. Commissioners and staff also discussed strategies to increase airport revenue, including hangar construction, updating the airport master plan (typically done every 10 years) and possibly converting certain airport-owned parcels to county ownership to reduce FAA restrictions when seeking revenue-generating leases.
Board action A motion to approve the FDOT grant resolution was made by Commissioner Moody and seconded by Commissioner Figuero; the motion passed on a voice vote ("Aye"). Staff said the county will continue seeking FAA and FDOT funding for the larger runway realignment project.
Context and next steps Staff noted the county has pursued FAA funding for several years for runway realignment and must meet FAA requirements if the larger funding is received. Commissioners asked staff to investigate updating the airport master plan sooner than the typical 10-year cycle to allow the county to pursue other revenue-generating opportunities, and staff said they would follow up on funding options for a master-plan update and potential property reclassification to facilitate non-aviation revenue-generating uses.
Ending The grant resolution passed at the meeting and staff will pursue the broader funding and planning steps discussed for longer-term airport development.
