CAA: GA News, "Pennsylvania airport plan seeks longer runway The extension has been denied before. Hangars also sought"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, March 10, 2002

Carbon airport plan seeks longer runway The extension has been denied
before. Hangars also sought.
By Chris Parker
The Allentown (PA) Morning Call


A plan that looks at adding hangars, extending the runway and removing
trees at Carbon County's Jake Arner Memorial Airport to improve business
will be unveiled Monday.

The Carbon County Airport Authority board will meet at 3 p.m. Monday to
talk about ways to improve the airport and attract more business with
its state-required updated action plan, Chairman Paul Smith said.

''It's like a five-year future of the airport, what your plans are for
improvements and upgrades,'' Smith said.

Officials for the airport, in Mahoning Township, for years have tried to
extend its 3,000-foot runway 700 feet to accommodate larger twin-engine
planes.

Twin-engine planes use the airport now, but pilots must get waivers from
their insurance companies to land there, Smith said.

''It's more of an insurance issue,'' Smith said. ''These airplanes can
operate on 3,000 feet of runway, but the insurance companies say 3,700
feet.''

Township officials have denied the authority's requests to extend the
runway, and Carbon County Judge Richard W. Webb in 1997 upheld a
township supervisors' ruling to deny the runway extension.

In his opinion, Webb wrote that the longer runway would harm development
of neighboring property. He also ruled the project is inconsistent with
the township's development plan because it envisions a small airport.

Airport action plans must be filed with the state every five years, said
state Department of Transportation spokesman Kirk Wilson.

''The action plan allows the Aviation Bureau to look at exactly what
each airport is seeking to fund and to determine which ones will receive
funding,'' Wilson said. ''They help ensure the efficient expenditure of
state funds because they prevent hodgepodge developments at airports.''

The Carbon County Airport Authority action plan also will include new
hangars.

The authority is preparing to build a 10-unit hangar and has plans for
another. Each hangar is expected to generate about $20,000 annually,
Smith said.

Half of the $630,000 improvement project is being paid for with a state
grant.


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