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Talks start on regional airport plan
A recent meeting of towns and counties in this area has talk of a regional airport on the front-burner. Nearly a half-dozen towns, including Thomasville, Butler and Pine Hill, as well as representatives from Clarke County, Marengo County and Choctaw Count attended a meeting to discuss a possible regional airport. The meeting was organized by the Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission and Dr. John Eagerton , chief of ALDOT's Aeronautics Bureau. Airport facilities in the region are limited. Linden's airport was recently closed. Pine Hill, the closest airport to Thomasville is in need of costly repairs and expansion, and other nearby airports lack the size needed to land corporate jets. The second issue is the one that concerns ALDOT's Eagerton. Airports are an economic development issue, and one that could be an important positive for this region if it wants to continue its economic development efforts. "We've been aware of interest in building an airport over there (southwest Alabama)," Eagerton said. "We've seen a lot of interest in local papers. We see some potential for a good regional airport in that part of the state." The idea of a regional airport is not a new one and was most recently accomplished in north Alabama. In ALDOT's most recent update of its airport plan included the importance of creating a network of regional airports. It's appealing, Eagerton said, because communities can band together and share the expense of building and maintaining the facility. Federal and state funding opportunities for airports are a competitive process and regional airports also often stand a better chance at receiving funding, than their small-town counterparts. All of which is good news to Pine Hill Mayor Harry Mason. Faced with tighter and tighter budget demands, Mason doesn't see how his community can afford to make the very costly improvements to its airport needed to make it more competitive. Barely long enough to handle larger corporate style jets, Pine Hill's airport is also partially land-locked with residential development and nearby highways, making expansion another costly and improbable option. "I just don't think we can afford to continue operating it," Mason said. Eagerton said maintenance alone on a regional airport could run from $35,000 to $50,000 per year. Even a reduced figure for a smaller, less ambitious airport would amount to a crushing burden on his town's economy, Mason reconned. The appeal to the regional concept is that the communities involved in the airport's operation could share the financial burden of upkeep and operations. Even though there is interest in the project, the time table is a long one. Eagerton said building a new airport from scratch is an eight to ten year project. "Even expanding an existing airport would take several years," he said. But, Eagerton added, a regional airport could be a reality for this area sooner than a major north-south highway for the Blackbelt region.
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