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Gordon County work session hears airport authority seek $100,917.22 match for taxiway resurfacing
Summary
Airport authority representatives asked Gordon County to approve a $100,917.22 general-fund match for taxiway/runway resurfacing, arguing recent state and FAA grants made local match funds necessary to finish remaining taxiway work and attract hangar development.
Gordon County commissioners at a work session on an agenda item heard airport authority representatives request a budget amendment to provide a $100,917.22 match from the county general fund to finish taxiway/runway resurfacing work.
Chair introduced the request and noted the City of Calhoun had approved an identical $100,917.22 match under an existing service-delivery agreement. An airport representative said recent projects included a state-funded south-end improvement, lighting upgrades and a major recent project; because large state and FAA discretionary grants have funded much of the airport work, local match funds have been depleted.
“We have depleted that match money as those large projects get done,” an airport representative said, explaining the county match is needed to complete the taxiway portion. The airport’s presentation also emphasized the facility’s economic role: an airport speaker said the field ranks among Georgia’s top 10 for based aircraft, helps attract lawyers and other visitors who fly in for nearby hearings and has seen private-sector hangar investment.
The airport representative described their grant strategy: submitting an FAA and Georgia DOT five-year plan annually, funding local engineering and preparatory work so projects score higher for discretionary grants. “We go ahead and have the prep work done using our local budget dollars … and that makes our project score higher,” the speaker said.
No formal vote was recorded in the work session minutes for the airport amendment; the request was presented for county consideration and listed for inclusion in a FY25 budget amendment. The county chair and staff said additional details and standard procurement and grant-closeout steps would follow before any final appropriation.
Provenance: The airport match request and economic case were discussed beginning with the county’s introduction of the airport agenda item and the airport authority presentation.
