Beaufort County airport board seeks federal earmark and accepts FAA grants to advance Hilton Head terminal work

The Beaufort County Airport Board received an update on construction of the Hilton Head terminal and voted to accept several federal and state grants to keep follow-on work moving while the county council is on summer recess.

John (director) told the board the terminal exterior is largely finished, interior work on insulation, sheetrock and restroom tile is underway, and foundations for jet bridges are in place. He said the airport plans paving to open four lanes of traffic and expects continued interior finishes in the coming weeks. "The roof is almost complete on the landside of the terminal building," he said.

The board approved a series of preemptive grant-acceptance resolutions that allow the county administrator to execute electronic FAA grant offers quickly once they arrive. John explained that FAA offers arrive and expire faster than county approval cycles, so the board prepared authorizations ahead of time to avoid losing funding.

Key grant items approved included a design-and-bidding grant for the Beaufort executive partial parallel taxiway (FAA covers 97.5 percent of the cost; airport sponsor share about $6,500), FAA and Aeronautics Commission grants tied to the airfield drainage contract at Hilton Head Island Airport, a 100 percent state-funded environmental assessment for runway object-free-area pavement planning, a competitive BIL grant for control-tower renovation (communications upgrades, interior refurbishment and lightning protection), and a grant to fund fire-suppression repairs at three airport buildings. John described the taxiway extension as delivering "an enormous safety improvement" and told the board the grants are structured so work and subsequent contracts can proceed without delay.

Board members also discussed seeking federal earmark funding for phase 2 of the terminal. John said he submitted an earmark request to Senator Graham's office earlier in April and asked each board member to send letters or hand-delivered signatures to the senator's staff to help move the request forward; Leslie recommended targeted delivery to chief-of-staff email addresses or hand-delivered letters to avoid generic contact forms. John characterized the request as important to avoid higher costs from remobilizing a different contractor if phase 2 is not funded in time.

The board approved the grant-acceptance resolutions and related motions without recorded opposition. The board was urged to follow up with Senator Graham's office as the next procedural step; John said he will circulate contact names and a draft letter for members to send.