CAA: GA News, "Lago Vista, Texas airport funding grounded"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Airport funding grounded
By Patty Mullins
North Lake Travis (TX) Log

 
      City officials learned recently that $800,000 in airport
renovations had been grounded until recently, prompting speculation that
the Sept 11 terrorist attack was the cause due to the suddenness of the
action. However, according to TxDOT, the grant's funding agency, a cash
flow problem due to lower motor fuel tax receipts and legislative action
is the real reason. 

      TxDOT officials did acknowledge, however, that 2002 funding for
transportation projects could be affected on both the state and federal
level. TxDOT has funded some local airport projects in the past, as has
the FAA.

      On a recent Friday at the Lago Vista Rusty Allen Airport, a desk
had been made ready for the construction manager who would oversee
modernization and expansion of airport facilities, 90 percent of which
was to be funded by a grant from the TxDOT and the rest by the city and
property owners' association.

       The following Monday, Lago Vista city officials received word
that the grant, along with all others not already begun, would be
postponed. TxDOT officials confirmed that the order to delay the grant
had been made within a day, after the agency had determined what
projects would not be harmed by postponement. Projects that had been
issued an order to proceed were allowed to do so.

      TxDOT officials denied a connection to the Sept. 11 terrorist
attack, but FAA fuel receipts are down significantly, which could affect
2002 grant awards. The FAA subsidizes millions of dollars of TxDOT
aviation projects, but the Lago Vista airport renovation is not one of
them.

      TxDOT officials said there was no way to know whether decreased
FAA revenue would affect overall TxDOT operations, but that it could.
The project is to resume when cash flow in the highway fund is
replenished by gas tax and vehicle registration receipts, and as major
highway projects are finished, according to TxDOT officials.

      According to James Bass, director of finance for TxDOT, highway
projects were delayed due to joint consent of TxDOT and contractors, a
departure from standard procedure in which contractors have a specified
start and end date. However, aviation contracts were not delayed for
this reason, according to Karen Weideman of TxDOT's aviation division.

      "We haven't seen any direct connection to the terrorist attack,"
said Bass.

       "I am not sure if there will be. The current balance in the state
highway fund is lower than projected, because it was higher for years
and years, and people in the legislature had questioned why it had been
so high. So we, as a department, decided to aggressively award projects
that would bring down that bank balance, and we began to target a lower
bank balance.

      "What occurred in 2001 is that we received less revenue than we
expected, and highway construction expenditures were higher than
expected," Bass said. "That state fund [Fund 6] funds aviation, highway
construction, public transportation and other items. Because that fund
was lower ... 25 regional TxDOT offices contacted the contractors to see
if there were any projects they would want to delay 30 to 90 days. It
had to be agreeable to both TxDOT and contractors."

       When actually awarded, the grant will fund a project specifying a
number of items that would enhance safety at the airport, as well as
increase capacity for air travel there. The grant was to be the first of
other capital improvement grants sought, according to the latest version
of the Lago Vista Master Plan.

      The $800,000 capital improvements project will be funded primarily
by state and federal sources - TxDOT and the FFA. Local agencies will
contribute about $80,000, divided equally between the City of Lago Vista
and the Rusty Allen Airport Property Owners Association.

      The renovations will include the following: resurfacing ramps;
installing new navigational aids, a new beacon, segmented windsock,
pappi, and turnaround; and installing additional parking areas for
aircraft.

      The project will make the airport safer, and more user-friendly,
according to airport and city officials. A bonus predicted is that a
safer and better airport will attract more traffic. Traffic and
occupancy at the airport has increased steadily since the city assumed
ownership of the runway in 1994, and the trend continues.

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