Springdale Airport Commission Looks at Fuel Storage Improvement

SPRINGDALE — Airport officials will consider paying for improving the facility’s fuel storage with city money.

The Airport Commission decided Thursday to see if the City Council will agree to use Capital Improvement Program money to pay to remove a fuel farm and add a new tank to a newer farm.

“We have a multimillion facility,” said Neil Johnson, commissioner. “It’s hard for me to say we can’t come up with the money to pay for a gas tank.”

The improvement, projected to cost $150,000, would clear the path for an access road to the airport terminal.

The road, beginning further south on Powell Street than the current entrance, would be built with grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics. Estimated cost of construction is $1 million.

Parents picking up or dropping off their children at Jones Elementary School, 900 S. Powell St., can block the entrance to the terminal on Airport Drive.

City officials worked out a lease extension a hangar with the services provider at the airport, said Wyman Morgan, city director of administration and financial services.

The extensions allow Summit Aviation to continue to operate from an airport hangar another 12 years. The current agreement, inherited by Summit when it took over airport operation, called for the hangar to become city property in June 2016. The hangar was built by an earlier service provider.

If the lease is extended, Summit would remove the old fuel tank farm and add a new tank to the newer farm. The airport has two groupings of fuel tanks from the time when there were two fixed-base operators, Morgan said.

Dave Powell, a Summit owner, said he doesn’t care which method is used to pay for the tank improvement.

“I won’t see any win for my business for 10 years,” Powell said. “You won’t hurt my feelings by doing it yourselves.”

Paying for the improvement would allow airport officials to collect rent on the hangar sooner in 2016, said Greg Willoughby, commission chairman. Otherwise, hangar rent payments will not begin until 2028. The estimated rent would be $2,500 a month. The airport would also assume insurance, taxes and maintenance costs on the hangar, Willoughby said.

The operating agreement for Summit is also up for an extension. Powell asked for a 25-year extension. The commission discussed a 15-year contract with two five-year extensions. Commissioners asked Morgan to look at the wording of the extension that would allow the commission to maintain approval of the operator while giving Summit enough security for bank loans.

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