Clark Regional Airport secures funding for runway expansion to 7,000 feet

The half-finished project was on the line, airport leaders said, as they sought help from local municipalities for funding the 7.5 percent local match for an approximately $10 million Federal Aviation Administration grant.

The SCRAA board secured most of the funding earlier this week after an interlocal agreement was reached. Jeffersonville and Clark County will each contribute $250,000, Clarksville $100,000 and Charlestown $25,000.

The Paul Ogle Foundation first agreed to $100,000 but is now also matching Charlestown, bringing the foundation's contribution to $125,000.

“We've reached the magic number,” John Secor, airport manager and SCRAA board member, said. “We're breathing a sigh of relief — this project will be complete.”

He said the completion, bringing the runway from 5,500 feet to 7,000, will increase the margin of safety for existing users and open up opportunities for larger aircraft which would help boost the local economy.

“It will also open up our airport for the possibility of aircraft that would be at the level of the regional airline type aircraft that are sometimes used for corporate activity,” he said. “A lot of companies have adopted those types of airplanes [for] large amounts of people, company officials.

“Five thousand, five hundred feet is long enough for what we have but it doesn't take us to the next level.”

Tom Galligan, SCRAA president, who along with other board members, worked with the municipalities to secure the funding.

“Rome wasn't built in a day; you got to build it brick-by-brick,” he said. “It all came together because it became a community function instead of an individual function.”

The SCRAA board passed a resolution Wednesday to enter into the agreement with the municipalities and set up a bank account in Clark County to receive the funds. Board attorney Greg Fifer said the next step is to pass resolutions in each municipality for the funding agreement; Jeffersonville passed its Monday.

Fifer said the process would take about six weeks to receive the local funds.

The airport was awarded a little more than $3 million in the fall from an FAA grant, which hasn't been used yet in construction. The board approved action Wednesday to allow airport consultant and project director Chris Snyder to apply for the remaining $6 million-plus grant that's needed to complete the project before the window closes this year.

“The FAA grant deadline for applications is quickly approaching; it's typically around July 1 to mid-July,” Snyder said. “The board has agreed to request as much funding as we can to get as much done as we can.”

The $750,000 that's been secured is the local match to the roughly $10 million that's left for the $20 million total project.

Secor said the goal is to get things done as soon as possible, but if the FAA denies the request for the rest of the funding this year, they won't be able to reapply for the remaining funds until next July. If that happens, the board agreed to tie up loose ends this year and start construction next year.

This would mean the shortest closure of the MALSR, the approaching lighting system, but could mean higher construction costs because the projects would have to be rebid and the market price of materials and labor may change. Timmons Electric and Crider and Crider are the contractors on the project.

Secor said the first part of this phase would be for the MALSR to be demolished. Next would be the excavation of the runway extension and installation of the pads for the new MALSR. The last step would be to turn the approach lighting system back on.

Secor said while it's possible for an airport to function without a MALSR, the shorter the time period it's down, the better, because it affects landing visibility.

“Right now we have a half-mile visibility,” Secor said. “As long as the visibility is at half a mile or greater, the approach is operational.”

He said when the system is down, the visibility minimum goes to one mile.

“That's a big difference,” he said.