Preliminary Work Possible on Airport Runway Extension

Preliminary work could soon be underway on an extension of the east-west runway at Effingham County Memorial Airport.

Effingham County Airport Commission Chairman Tony Siemer said the Commission has been authorized to explore the extension of the runway from the current 5,200 feet to 6,000 feet.  Siemer said one reason the extension will be explored is the locating of a larger Heartland Dental Care aircraft at the airport, and the possibility that similarly-sized aircraft could also begin using the airport.

Siemer thinks the project could be three years in the making.

Heartland Dental constructed a hangar building on the airport property.  The hangar will eventually belong to the airport under Heartland's agreement to lease the property.

The Commission discussed purchasing their own tractor to do snow plowing, rather than contract for snow removal.  Instead, Commission members learned that the County Highway Department next door to the airport has a suitable tractor that is not used by the Highway Department in the wintertime, so the Commission will discuss leasing the tractor rather than buying their own unit.  Under budget guidelines, the airport can't just borrow the tractor from the highway department.

Commission members also discussed the upcoming end of the useful life of the airport's localizer navigation system and a switch to using GPS to guide aircraft.  The switch is hoped to save the airport $5,000 a year.