Airport project underway
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Troy City Council took more steps toward completing a 6,500-foot runway expansion at the Troy Municipal Airport.
The expansion is one that has been in the works for some time, but the council accepted the terms of a Federal Aviation Administration agreement Tuesday night, bringing the project one step closer to completion.
In total, the project this year will be funded $2.2 million, 95 percent funded by the FAA, 2.5 percent by the city of Troy and another 2.5 percent by the state.
That will take around $54,500 out of the city’s pocketbook this year.
Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said this grant will fund the first year of construction, which is already underway at the Troy Municipal Airport.
The city also approved a resolution as part of its already-established agreement with CGI. “When doing recruitment of CGI, we put in our incentive package we would help them maintain all the state statutes for incentives,” Lunsford said.
Part of those incentives was to allow the company, during the construction process, a waive on city sales tax on any equipment purchased at the time.
Lunsford said that won’t include the sales tax that is allotted toward education.
“This is nothing we haven’t done for any other industry,” said Councilman Charles Meeks. Also in the meeting, the council accepted the terms of a grant for the Pike Area Transit System to purchase the building it is currently renting.
Right now, PATS, located on Segars Street, rents its home for $1,500 each month, Lunsford said.
But, after a $160,000 grant from the federal stimulus package, PATS has negotiated an agreement to purchase the building for less than that amount.
The PATS bus system is funded by the cities of Troy and Brundidge and the Pike County Commission.
In final business, the council agreed to move the District 3 voting spot from Park Memorial Methodist Church to the Troy Parks and Recreation Department.