HIGHFILL : Airport budget relies on grants
Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008
HIGHFILL — Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport’s Finance Committee approved a budget Wednesday that includes $ 10. 7 million in federal grants.
The grants, which will be used for improvements such as a second-level concourse, are part of a $ 38. 1 million budget that will go before the airport board of directors next week for final approval.
Airport officials aren’t sure when they’ll receive money from the grants, which will cover portions of the costs for several projects.
The grant money was earmarked in a national omnibus bill approved in December. The 3, 565-page bill included more than 150 earmarks for Arkansas.
Ryan James, a spokesman for Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., said federal agencies requesting the earmarks will divide the cash among projects it was intended for.
It could take months just for agencies to follow up with project leaders to complete necessary paperwork, he said.
Earmarks for the airport include: $ 668, 150 to complete the expansion to the ticketing lobby on the lower level; $ 760, 000 to expand the airport fire station; $ 4. 6 million for an alternate landing strip that allows the airport to keep the runway open while performing maintenance and will eventually turn into a taxiway; $ 4. 7 million for the design and general funding of the second-level concourse.
The grants will pay for a portion of the projects, said airport director Kelly Johnson, and financing packages and bids cannot be completed until the grants reach Northwest Arkansas.
“We’re just going to keep going as if we are going to get the money,” she said.
The second-level concourse will allow for six to 11 plane gates depending on the design selected. Such an expansion could make way for low-cost airlines, she said.
James said an expansion would make the airport more attractive to other carriers and for airlines to offer more destinations. “That’s why a lot of money was put together for XNA,” he said. “It’s [a ] vastly important resource to business and tourism.”
An auxiliary parking lot and an expanded taxi queue, for a total of $ 120, 000, also are planned in the 2008 budget. The new lot — called a “cell phone” lot — will help eliminate congestion along the road that loops in front of the airport. The lot will be located north of the main building, and people who come to the airport to pick up a passenger can park there until they are called by their passenger.
To contact this reporter: aotoole@arkansasonline. com
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