Airport pitch goes very well
By LARRY HILLIARD Ledger Staff Writer larry@gaffneyledger.com

Proponents for a county airport breathed a little easier Tuesday after a successful presentation before Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state aeronautics commission members.

About 10 county leaders tried to convince the FAA and state aeronautics commission during a one-hour, PowerPoint presentation to earmark funds for the site selection phase and cost estimate for the proposed county airport.

"I was very encouraged," County Councilman Bailey Humphries said. "They said they were quite impressed with our presentation."

Among the county leaders who addressed the commission members were Cherokee County Development Board Director Jim Cook and Development Board member John Travers, who each addressed the impact of a county airport on industrial development.

Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce Director Gene Moorhead followed up with a presentation focusing on the quality of life benefits of a county airport.

Two other county leaders, Joe Bonner and Bill Van Antwerp, presented eight viable sites for a proposed airport, including five tracts adjacent to Interstate 85 and three located in the southern section of the county.

Humphries said the FAA and state aeronautics commission members won't make their funding decisions known until next summer.

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.

In November, 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.

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