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Council postpones Airport Road extension addendum, schedules public hearing
Summary
After a lengthy debate about design, right-of-way and community impacts, Gulfports City Council postponed a contract-extension request for the Airport Road extension and roundabout and agreed to schedule a public hearing and bring maps to the community before taking the extension vote.
The Gulfport City Council on Tuesday postponed action on an addendum to extend the preliminary engineering timeline for the Airport Road extension and proposed roundabout and asked staff to hold a public hearing with conceptual maps before the council acts.
City engineering staff told the council the work under the current preliminary engineering contract covers design activities for the Airport Road segment and that the project is tied to a roughly $5,000,000 grant, with the city responsible for about a 20% local share. "That project is a $5,000,000 grant with we're responsible for 20% of that," the city engineer said during the discussion.
Council members pressed for public transparency after residents and councilmembers raised concerns about impacts to nearby properties, including the municipal golf course and proposed later widening of Washington Avenue. Councilmember Hines said neighborhood residents "need to have input on what you are getting ready to do to impact their life," urging staff to show maps at a local venue where affected residents can review plans.
The council debated procedural options — tabling versus postponing until a set date — before approving a motion that pauses the contract-extension action until the administration schedules public hearings and shares the engineering plans with the affected neighborhoods. Councilman Buckner proposed holding the hearing at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. to encourage participation from working residents.
City staff said the extension sought would avoid administrative complications that come from reissuing an expired contract for PE work and that the current contract expires Dec. 31; engineers said extending the PE timeline maintains continuity for completed design work. Staff also emphasized there is no immediate cost tied to the extension itself and that the city has already spent preliminary engineering funds on design.
What happens next: the council set direction for staff to schedule and publicize a local public hearing (the administration suggested a meeting time near 5:30 p.m.), bring conceptual maps and right-of-way information to the public session, and then return the item to council at the next meeting after public comment for formal action.
