Commissioners discuss airport instrument-approach pre-application; staff reports Ohio Builds grant closeout

County staff briefed the Morrow County Board of Commissioners on March 31 about steps to qualify the local airport for a straight instrument approach and on the closeout of a multi-million-dollar state grant.

"What we need to do is pre application for a ramp just to see, from the federal level of data we want to just pay for," Speaker 4 said, describing a federal pre-application filed to support an instrument approach after recent tree clearing and a new survey. Speaker 3 confirmed the process is the AGIS procedure previously used and said the authorization, once approved, would be valid for three years.

Speaker 4 also reported that staff completed final closeout work for an Ohio Builds grant described in the meeting as $2,070,000. "So I worked with, Michelle at Heimfelter to do that last draw," Speaker 4 said, and added the county expected a final payment of about $5,000 as part of the closeout.

An engineering firm was expected to deliver materials later that day for staff and commissioners to review, Speaker 4 said, noting the potential need to add equipment to ensure a local plant or facility operates as intended. The transcript does not specify which facility would receive equipment additions.

Commissioners and staff also discussed recent safety inspection history and how the runway and approach clearing affected compliance. Speakers noted the recent changes were intended to remove previous inspection deficiencies and to make the airport eligible for federal safety and approach programs.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff submitted the federal pre-application and awaited federal qualification for the instrument approach; engineering firm materials were due to be reviewed by staff and commissioners.