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Belle Glade commission hears airport progress: taxiway finished, FDOT grant funds retention area and monitoring
Summary
Kimley‑Horn told the commission Nov. 20 that Taxiway Charlie is complete, FDOT-funded design work is underway for a master retention area to enable future development, groundwater contamination monitoring will resume Nov. 28, and a maintenance building design is moving toward bid-ready status.
Tom O'Donnell, a project manager with Kimley‑Horn Associates, told the Belle Glade City Commission on Nov. 20 that several airport projects are advancing and aimed at making airport land more leasable and safer.
O'Donnell said Taxiway Charlie — a full-length parallel taxiway completed in phased segments — was finished on time and under budget, with substantial completion recorded July 11 and final completion Aug. 3. "These are pictures of the finished product," he said during slide images showing intersections, runway access points and the long eastern run of the taxiway. He described the completed work as removing a constraint to airport operations and tenant access.
The presentation identified a Florida Department of Transportation design grant to create a master retention area that will route tenant drainage into a shared system, easing the cost burden on individual tenants and making airport parcels more attractive for lease. O'Donnell said 100% design documents for the retention area are in progress, with quality control review planned in early December and submission of bid documents to the city by the end of December.
O'Donnell also reviewed environmental monitoring: the ground‑water delineation study is continuing to map contamination, and the next biannual water-table sampling was scheduled for Nov. 28; staff will notify tenants before on‑site sampling and lab testing. "We are doing studies on the water to see the level of contamination in the water table," he said, describing the red line on a map as the delineation of concern.
On the maintenance building, O'Donnell said the FDOT‑funded project is in design for a southwestern airport location (near Gator Boulevard and State Road 80). He said internal circulation, parking and three service bays are planned and that the goal is to finish 100% design documents by Dec. 22, after which the project will be readied for permitting and bidding.
During follow-up, Commissioner Barry asked whether the projects could be leveraged to make the airport a revenue generator and support an executive‑airport model with hangars and night operations. O'Donnell said the grants and infrastructure improvements are intended to make parcels more attractive to aviation businesses but noted constraints such as runway length and regulatory uses: "Having this master retention area means tenants will only have to connect to it and they won't have to make those drainage improvements themselves," he said, adding that additional planning with staff and FDOT is necessary to pursue larger executive‑airport ambitions.
What happens next: staff and Kimley‑Horn will finalize 100% design documents for the retention area and maintenance building on the schedules described; the city will be notified about the Nov. 28 groundwater sampling; and projects will move toward permitting and bid phases.
