April is target date to begin construction of runway extension

By JOHN BRANNON
Messenger Staff Reporter
Construction of a 1,500 foot extension of the runway at Everett-Stewart Regional Airport is projected to start in April 2010.
It is estimated that construction of the $3.2 million project will take 210 days. Barring delays, that means the project will be completed in late fall 2010.
The status of plans to extend the current 5,000-foot runway was a major topic of discussion Thursday at a regular meeting of the Everett-Stewart Airport Commission.
The airport is operated jointly by Obion and Weakley counties. Hence, the airport commission is comprised of members from the two counties.
Members are:
• Obion County: Dr. Chris Gooch, Perry Barfield, Mike Holman and David James, all of Union City. Gooch is commission chairman.
• Weakley County: Shawn Francisco of Gleason, Wayne McCreight of Martin and Jimmy Westbrook of Dresden.
All members attended the meeting that began at 8 a.m. Thursday in the airport terminal building.
Also attending were Obion County Mayor Benny McGuire, Weakley County Mayor Houston Patrick and airport manager Jo Ann Speer.
A long haul
Gooch said the commission has come a long way in its quest to acquire 65 acres of land near the south end of the runway that would allow the 1,500-foot extension.
“We’re kind of breathing a sigh of relief,” he said. “We’ve been working on this project almost seven years. We’ve gone through a bunch of hurdles. Sometimes it seemed they were insurmountable, yet we found a way to get over them. The 65 acres was the big one. It was owned by Gail Latimer. We got possession of it earlier this year.”
Extension of the runway enhances local economic development, he said, which is why there was a sustained effort to acquire the land and acquire funding.
“I-69 will come and we want to be ready to handle the increased traffic that that corridor is going to provide,” he said.
Runway-plus
According to Gooch, extension of the runway is only part of the story. A new runway end means a lot of infrastructure has to be moved to a new location. The taxiway, runway lights, runway end identifier lights, approach lights and the glide slope antenna (used by aircraft for instrument approach) must all be moved 1,500 feet to accommodate the extended runway.
Also, there are a silo and a residential structure on the 65 acres that was acquired from Ms. Latimer. Gooch said the silo will definitely be taken down because its height penetrates the aircraft approach path. The roof of the house penetrates the approach path and the house is habitable. A habitable structure is not allowed in an aircraft approach path. “It’s not enough to just condemn it and nobody live there. A vagrant could start living there and if a plane crashed there on short approach, the county could get sued.”
Bids awarded
Several firms submitted bids that Gooch said “came in 25 percent below projected costs.”
• Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, a Memphis firm, won the bid for design work.
• Vaughn Electric Co. of Union City won the bid for electric work.
• Ford Construction Co. of Dyersburg won the bid for construction work.
“Once you put in engineering and construction and supervisory oversight, (the project) comes in at about $3.2 million,” Gooch said.
Air show
“At our last meeting we discussed having an Air Extravaganza (next fall) as part of Corn Fest,” Gooch said.
“The board was cognizant of the fact that Corn Fest will occur while construction is under way. We think we can work around it.”
Mrs. Speer said the date chosen for the air extravaganza is Sept. 13, 2010.
“We plan to have a super-duper air show in two years,” Gooch said. “We will have an extra 1,500 feet of runway and we can get some big jets in here then.”
Other business
In other business Thursday, the airport commission voted to continue mowing and haying operations. It also authorized Mrs. Speer to look into getting a grant for a FOD — foreign object debris — machine.
“The machine itself is towed by a truck and picks up debris off the runway,” she said. “It costs about $8,000. Since it’s a safety issue, we may be about to get a grant at 90-10 match (meaning the airport would have to pay only 10 percent of the cost). We are also going to look at getting a new fuel truck.”
Published in The Messenger 11.20.09

Print