Airport lands $7.4 million FAA grant for runway

JEFFERSON — The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded an about $7.4 million grant to the Northeast Ohio Regional Airport, accounting for a large portion of its about $9.5 million runway project, set for completion next summer.

Dwight Bowden, airport authority executive director, said the infusion will pay off the project's 703-foot runway expansion, reconstruction of the existing runway, the addition of safety areas near the ends of the runway, high-intensity lighting, utility relocation work along nearby Brown Road and nearby property acquisitions.

The Ohio Department of Transportation's aviation division is putting up half of the FAA grant's 10 percent local match, with the other half — about $418,000, according to the authority — coming from the Cleveland Foundation's aviation capital expenditures trust for the county.

"This project has zero impact on the taxpayers of Ashtabula County," Bowden said.

Preparations for the grant began in 2005, Bowden said.

At that time, the authority obtained about $1.2 million in grant funding to begin designing the runway safety area, he said. Since then, the authority was required to conduct traffic forecasts, wildlife impact studies and an environmental assessment which had 22 separate elements itself — which all cost a "significant" amount in private donations, he said.

Former Congressman Steve LaTourette, who died last month, was one of the first lawmakers to extend a hand, Bowden said. He said the project's "starting point" was an assessment of wetlands near the airport property. LaTourette and former county commissioner Joe Moroski organized a meeting with the FAA and Michael Baker International, the authority's consulting firm.

"This is, in my mind, a tremendous achievement by many people who have participated in crossing all these hurdles," Bowden said, also naming U.S. Rep. David Joyce.

“Infrastructure is the life blood to our economic viability in many instances,” Joyce said in a release. “I’m thrilled this funding comes at a critical time to help complete much needed improvements at the airport and to continue the mission of economic development.”

The authority had been counting on the grant to pay for the project, which it was notified of in 2014, but had not actually received the money until this week.

When finished, the runway will span 5,900 feet, according to the authority, and will be "capable of serving almost any business or private aircraft." The airport will be the fourth safety-compliant airport in the state, out of 102.

The "dog bone"-shaped safety areas planned for the runway's ends provide a buffer in case a plane landing is too long or too short, Bowden said. The authority also plans to bury electrical lines along Brown Road, removing an obstructing utility pole and making a clear approach for aircraft.

The airport's asset value, estimated at $49 million before the most recent phase of airport improvements began in 2014, is expected to jump to $57 million upon completion on July 1, 2017. Close to $10 million of that was funded outside of tax revenues, according to the authority.