News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Upper Cumberland Regional Airport Board approved a $1,039,000 bid for two new hangars during its Tuesday meeting.
The board also approved building the foundation for a third hangar facility. The hangars, used to store airplanes, will be leased or rented to private citizens. Airport Manager Dean Selby said six of the eleven planned T-hangars are already pre-leased with the first ten years paid for.
“Someone who’s committing to a T-Hangar for ten years and signing a lease and prepaying it in advance is someone who’s committed to the airport,” Selby said. “That’s not because it’s someone who’s doing it because it’s just this super fantastic deal that they just can’t pass up, it’s people that are like ‘We want to invest in the airport.'”
The board also approved a 30-year lease with Meadows Homes for a 70′ x 100’ plot of land. Selby said the land will have a hangar meant to store larger twin-turbine aircrafts and that the lease will be prepaid for a total of $210,000.
“They’ve been a good partner for the airport for a long time,” Selby said. “They’ve been on and off this airport for many years, so it’s not like it’s someone we’re not familiar with.”
Selby said the income from the T-hangars is already providing the airport with the income it needs for the various new projects.
“It solved our debt problem,” Selby said. “Now we’re where we don’t have to borrow money.”
The board also approved a bid for a new taxi lane to account for all of the new hangars.
