"Indiana airports planning upgrades"

Wednesday, December 13, 2000

Airports planning upgrades
FAA giving money to 7 area airfields
By Rachel E. Blakeman
Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel


Steuben County's airport plans to buy land for a new runway and the DeKalb
County Airport will add lights for its taxiways, thanks to federal money
going to smaller airports.

Area boards of aviation commissioners are finalizing proposals for how they
each want to spend $150,000 of grant money from the Federal Aviation
Administration.

Other airports receiving grants are Huntington Municipal, Kendallville
Municipal, Wabash Municipal, Warsaw Municipal and Fort Wayne's Smith Field.

Proposals for specific capital improvements are due to the Indiana
Department of Transportation's aeronautics section Friday.

The money, which is going to the smaller city and county airports for the
first time, is part of the federal Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and
Reform Act for the 21st Century, said Maria Muia, the transportation
department's aeronautics section manager.

The Steuben County Board of Aviation Commissioners will use the money for
land acquisition at the Tri-State Airport, said board President Dr. R. Wyatt
Weaver.

It will be used for a proposed east-west runway that will be wider and
longer than the existing northeast-southwest runway. The exact amount of
land to be purchase has yet to be worked out, Weaver said.

Don Smith, president of the DeKalb Board of Aviation Commissioners, said
this year's grant, along with some other funds, will be used for lighting on
the 5,000-foot taxiway and the construction of holding pads.

Most of Indiana's non-primary airports Á those that are not large commercial
airports such as Fort Wayne International Á will receive $150,000 for as
long as Congress budgets $3.2 billion for the Airport Improvement Program.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will administer the funds, Muia
said.

An additional 10 percent Á with 5 percent coming locally and 5 percent
coming from the state Á also will have to be used, Weaver said.

Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager David Beall said the airport will use the
money for reimbursement for the purchase of about 260 acres in 1992, which
is being used as an FAA safety zone.

Wabash Municipal Airport will split the money between a 17-acre land
purchase and an aviation weather observation station, said Barb Short,
airport manager.

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