Advocates of airport proposal face key date, meeting
By LARRY HILLIARD Ledger Staff Writer larry@gaffneyledger.com

Circle Tuesday, Dec. 4, on your calendar as an important date in the effort to build a county airport.

That's when county leaders will travel to Columbia to convince Federal Aviation Administration and state aeronautic commission members to earmark funds for the site selection phase and cost estimate for the county airport.

Cherokee County Councilman Bailey Humphries said he, interim county administrator Ben Clary and the threemember airport commission will make the trip to Columbia.

"Anytime you can get in front of (the FAA and state aeronautic commission) it's important," he said. "We want to make sure we are on their funding list."

The site selection and construction cost estimate could total as much as $400,000, according to Humphries. The federal government will pay for 95 percent of those costs. The remaining costs would be shared equally between the state and local governments.

Earlier this month, Humphries persuaded council to support a resolution that called on the county to "do all things reasonable and necessary to obtain final approval for the construction and development" of a county airport.

Humphries also told council at that time that the local airport commission should complete its preliminary site selection work within weeks. The commission, comprised of John Travers, Vic Sarratt and Bill Van Antwerp, are close to identifying three of the six proposed sites, according to Humphries, who said several of the sites won't require the county to relocate any residents.

The county needs to acquire between 450 and 550 acres for the airport.

A recent feasibility study outlined a conceptual airport design that included a 5,500 foot by 100 foot runway, a full parallel taxiway, precision approach to one runway and non-precision approach to the other runway end. The design also showed a 5,000 square-foot terminal, an apron for transient aircraft parking and a hangar.

The report estimates that 577 acres would be required for the airport, with 192 acres being acquired in fee simple or easement.

Cherokee is the only county in the state without a general aviation airport.