Airport authority hears runway update
DUNBAR TWP. – The Fayette County Airport Authority was given an update on the runway safety area project under construction at the Joseph A. Hardy-Connellsville Airport. Engineer William S. Shiderly of Michael Baker Jr. Inc., the project manager overseeing improvements at the airport, reported that paving was recently completed and that the project is on schedule.
The $2.5 million project will establish an earthen runway about 150 feet wide and 300 feet long at the end of the paved runway for additional safety. Additional earthwork is also being done.
The majority of the project should be completed by the end of the year, Shiderly said, noting that only minor things will need to be done in the spring. Penn Development Services and Quality Reclamation are completing the project.
“It looks as though we’re going to come in on budget or slightly under,” he said.
The runway safety extension is part of an ongoing airport improvement project.
Airport manager Mary Lou Fast said that two representatives from the state Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Aviation recently visited the airport to inspect the runway safety project.
“Both seemed to be well pleased with the progress and were glad to see that everything was on track,” she said.
As for other matters, authority members were presented with a tentative copy of the proposed budget for the 2010 fiscal year to review before voting on the budget at next month’s meeting.
The tentative budget shows a total income of $472,700 and total expenses at $468,382, with a remaining balance of $4,318.
Authority members will vote to adopt the final budget at the next meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 15.
In unrelated business, authority member Jesse Wallace announced that Danielle Jones, a fifth-grade student at George C. Marshall Elementary, won the first-place award in the state Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) aviation art contest, the topic of which was “The History of Aviation.”
Jones, 10, will receive a mounted 16-by-20-inch copy of her entry and a certificate signed by PennDOT Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler. Marshall Elementary will also receive a mounted copy of the artwork for display.
The winning entries will be on display in the East Wing of the state Capitol building in Harrisburg from Nov. 30-Dec. 4.
Authority Chairman Terry “Tuffy” Shallenberger said the airport would be proud to display Jones’ winning poster in the terminal building once it has been on display in Harrisburg.