News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Upper Cumberland Regional Airport Board approved a $444,650 operating budget plan for the new fiscal year.
Airport Manager Dean Selby said the airport needed to consider several large expenditures during the new fiscal years as funds permit. Selby said the projects include repairs to hangars A and B.
“The oldest T-hangars we’ve got here, the outside sheeting is rusting, it’s been hit in several places and rolled up through the years,” Selby said. “The doors don’t work correctly and some of the concrete is deteriorating to the point where the door tracks have fallen off.”
Selby estimated the concrete repair and the re-skinning of the hangar would cost roughly $75,000 for each building.
Several HVAC units also need to be repaired. Selby said at least two units are simply beyond repair and have been shut off. Selby said he would consider replacing one hangar unit this year because the airport has maintenance money leftover in its fiscal year budget.
Selby said the main airport sign also needs to be replaced.
“When you come down the road, if you come up to the building that sign up there has faded very bad,” Selby said. “It’s really bad. It looks awful. It’s a bad impression.”
In the operating budget, Selby said he expects to see some insurance increases in the new fiscal year. Some of the costs are due to increased infrastructure at the airport. Industry-wide airport impacts are also impacting the costs, Selby said.
Board Chair Randy Porter encouraged Selby to bid out the insurance before settling for an increase.
“We see it all the time, I’d really shop that insurance around,” Porter said. “You might be surprised. You start out with some big increases thinking, and then once you start shopping around, the prices get much better.”
Selby also budgeted for increased personnel costs to help with the increased airport traffic on Saturday, especially.
The budget included roughly $29,000 in increases from the current fiscal year.
