Authority plans to update airport

The authority will seek donations to help pay for airport improvements.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The Columbiana County Airport Authority plans to expand to help business growth after getting its financial wings.
"It's a good airport," John G. Sayle, the chairman and chief executive officer of Hall China Co. in East Liverpool and a longtime airport authority member, said Friday. "If we're going to bring companies here, we're going to need an airport."
The authority, in frustration, offered earlier this year to give the airport in Madison Township to the commissioners after the commissioners didn't provide any funding for the authority.
The commissioners over the years have given the authority little or no money. Sayle said that for every 5 cents the county spends on the facility, the Federal Aviation Administration spends 95 cents.
The commissioners later quietly gave the authority the money the authority wanted: 6,000 for the airport manager and 1,000 for its treasurer for this year.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the airport would help with local development efforts.
But Sayle said the FAA wants the airport to repair two taxiways at a cost of 157,895. The FAA will provide 150,000 for the project.
Funding source
Sayle said he is trying to get the remaining 7,895 from private donors or from foundations. Sayle said he's obtained funds from those sources in the past to keep the airport functioning, and he expects he will get the money.
The taxiway work should be done this summer. That will bring the airport into compliance with FAA regulations, Sayle said.
The next move by the authority will be to seek money to add another 500 feet to the 3,500-foot runway to accommodate larger airplanes.
Airplanes, like cars, are now bigger, faster and heavier than when the airport opened in the 1960s, Sayle said.
Though the larger planes can land at the county airport now, some pilots have insurance policies requiring them to use longer runways.
The expansion would cost about 1.5 million, Sayle said. That effort won't get going until 2008.
The Columbiana County Port Authority is working to bring new industries to the area. But Sayle said companies won't come to an area where there is no nearby airport, he said.
Having an airport can also be a safety measure, Sayle said.
After Hurricane Katrina hit southern states in 2005, large airports were closed because of damage and flooding. But small airports were able operate to move people and cargo to help the area while it recovered.
wilkinson@vindy.com