runway, our taxiways, and our ramp, and it’s beautiful. And we did that with FAA dollars (a little over $130,000) in order to extend the life of our runway so that we can get it to the point for a rehab in 2027. The project right now is the design of the electrical vault for all new LED lighting. (An electrical vault is a sealed enclosure that houses electrical equipment and power cables, such as transformers, switchgear, and regulators.) It’s a huge project so it’s in design right now and next year we’ll go into construction. Right after the electrical vault, we have AWOS as a project, and we have PAPI on the master plan, but the FAA asked us to move that down until we get our lighting done.” “The other project that we have right now is obstruction removal,” Sparks continues.”We’ve got a lot of trees on airport property that need to come down. We got a grant from the Department of Transportation and we’re just waiting to pull the trigger on that project. For next year, we’re going to do phase two for another area of trees that will be removed. And we have a beacon on a 90-foot pole right next to the field that will get moved; the helicopters hate it. We are well under way on this project and I strive for continuous improvement.” GRADUATION DAY Sparks says that the solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024 proved to him that the airport was clearly moving ahead. “It was kind of a graduation day for us here,” he recalls.“We had 44 aircraft on the ground; we had a system to get all these people here, and we got them out of here within an hour. It validated what we can do.” Now, he’s focused on getting the word out to investors and companies who also see the airport’s capabilities and potential. “We don’t have any organic maintenance on the field,” he notes. “We have a couple of people who are A&P mechanics that we call on. So, we’re trying to get that capability. We have a big hangar that is open and we’re looking for companies to bring their maintenance here. We’d also like to have a flight school here. We do have flight instruction from our Aero Club; they started here about four years ago and lease space from us. They have a Cherokee and they now added an Ercoupe to their fleet. But we would 142 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 01
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