CAA: GA News, "Florida airport fills economic and community role for county"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday, November 30, 2002

Airport fills economic and community role for county
By AARON LONDON
The Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal


Built during World War II to train pilots, the Flagler County Airport is an
integral part of the region's future -- especially its economic future.

"The airport is a viable and significant factor in contributing to the
future economic growth of the Flagler County community," according to Jim
Jarrell, airport director. "Numerous studies exist that outline and define
the direct relationship and importance of local airports to community
economic growth."

With the number of corporate jets that come to Flagler County growing, the
airport is fast becoming the county's other front door. And that is
something Jarrell welcomes with open arms.

The airport operates under the authority of the Federal Aviation
Administration but is an enterprise operation, according to Jarrell. That
means local tax dollars do not support the airport. Instead, the operation
is funded through FAA grants and money from the Florida Department of
Transportation and the sale of gasoline and oil and hangar rentals.

"It's not funded on the backs of local taxpayers," Jarrell said. "The
airport is an integral part of the economy here."

That is one of the reasons the county is working on a master plan for an
airport industrial park.

"But part and parcel of that is developing the airport so that it gives us
full flexibility to optimize the entire area of the airport to include an
industrial park on the southeast side," Jarrell said.

To accomplish that, Jarrell said weekly meetings are conducted with county
staff to talk about developing the airport.

Developing an industrial or business park has been identified as a priority
by the county's Economic Development Commission, according to County
Administrator David Haas.

"Primarily it has been the view of the Economic Development Commission that
it is the central focal point for economic development for the county," he
said.

"We've made it one as a result not only of the EDC, but the board of county
commissioners, as an important goal to get that park up and running," Haas
said.

But there is more to the airport than its potential for economic
development. During the fires of 1998, the airport was the staging area for
emergency service personnel and firefighting aircraft. It also serves as the
locus of mosquito-control efforts in the county, as well as being home base
to the county's new rescue helicopter.

"This airport provides a heck of a service in a variety of factors for the
benefit of the community," Jarrell said. "The airport wants to be a good
neighbor to the community. It wants to provide a value-added service to the
community for both economic development and for the support of public safety
issues."

One of the other roles the airport has is its relationship with Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.

"Right now we've got a great relationship with them," Jarrell said. "And
it's continuing to develop."

Embry-Riddle is the largest single user of the county's airport, generating
60 percent of the takeoffs and landings at the field. Because Embry-Riddle
pilots use the Flagler County airspace to avoid the congestion of Daytona
Beach, they tend not to buy a lot of fuel in Flagler.

So Jarrell worked out a deal with Embry-Riddle officials, and offered to
match dollar for dollar every gallon of gasoline the university buys at the
Flagler facility and has pledged to use the proceeds to complete a
restriping project along the airport's runways.

That kind of arrangement is important on two levels. It helps get the
airport's primary user to participate in paying the costs of maintaining the
airport and it generates funds to perform important maintenance projects.

That is significant because other users are becoming more prevalent at the
airport, Jarrell said.

"It's rare that a day goes by that we don't have some sort of corporate
airplane coming in here," he said. "They come for two primary reasons,
either from economic development or business purposes or it's people coming
here for recreational reasons."

Increased use at the airport means planning now for future needs.

"As we develop, what is becoming a major issue is the runways," Jarrell
said.

When the airport was built during World War II, it was equipped with four
runways to lower the risk of pilot trainees landing in crosswinds and
because the country was looking for public projects to put people to work.
Today, however, only two of the runways are in use, and that is just fine
with Jarrell.

"Two runways are sufficient," he said. "The cost of opening up those other
two runways would be astronomical."

Instead, Jarrell sees extension of one of the two active 5,500-foot runways
as the best option.

"The runways are plenty wide at 100 feet wide," he said. "The limiting
factor for the long-term development of the airport is the length. The
minimum you need when you get a step above the corporate jet size is 6,500
feet. For long-term development 6,500 feet is just the absolute minimum that
you need to operate larger airplanes."

While he is focused on the airport and its challenges and opportunities,
Jarrell can see where the facility fits into other development projects in
the area.

"I think the future of this airport will be with the industrial side being
developed, with the lengthening of the runways and with the Town Center
project," he said.

"You could conceptually have a very large United Parcel Service or FedEx hub
here given the fact of our nearness to the railhead, our location between
Jacksonville and Orlando and the interstate highway system. While I don't
see passenger traffic happening here, the opportunities for hub traffic for
cargo or something like that are very good."

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