ASHLAND — The Ashland County Airport made one small step Thursday toward securing money needed to build a road that will serve as a new entrance point from U.S. Route 42.
County commissioners voted unanimously to give commissioner Michael Welch the authority to sign and submit a grant application to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Ken Van Duyne, of the airport authority, said Welch’s signature was needed in order to submit the application.
The signature was a new requirement, Van Duyne said.
“It’s a new form we’ve never filled out before,” he said. Essentially, the form is a resolution that commissioners must read and sign, allowing the grant process to move forward.
The airport authority has been designing the construction of a road that would connect the airport with U.S. Route 42. The project has been estimated to cost $400,000.
Van Duyne said 95% of that cost should be covered by state and federal grant dollars.
In August, commissioners approved a $75,375 grant agreement between the Ashland County Airport Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration. The money was used for engineering the access road.
Redeveloping the airport is an important piece to the county’s overall economic development, Welch has said.
The airport authority is also working to get a new terminal built out at the property. In order for that to happen, Van Duyne said, the airport authority needs to buy an adjacent property. That property, which currently houses a hangar just south of the existing terminal.
Van Duyne said there are regulatory steps that need to happen before the authority can buy the property. The authority, he said, is currently waiting for an appraisal to come back to them before making an offer.
The plan is to demolish the old 900 square-foot terminal originally built in 1972. The new terminal, Van Duyne said, will cost around $1.3 million to build. The commissioners awarded $550,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the project. Tom Zupan, a trustee of the airport authority, has said the authority was also awarded $150,000 from the State of Ohio Capital Grants program.
The airport authority also has yearly FAA entitlement funds in the amount of $150,000 to use toward capital repairs, improvements and land acquisition.
