Not so fast WK Dickson Co. You thought it would cost $45.8 million to construct the county's proposed general aviation airport. But the Cherokee County Transportation Committee is convinced you're wrong.

WK Dickson announced that figure to Cherokee County Council during a presentation of its preliminary 75- page economic study report in April.

Council voted to forward the draft to the Transportation Committee for its review.

So far, the committee's review has been less than favorable.

For starters, Vic Sarratt, who chairs the committee, called the report "biased." He also claimed the report lacked supporting data and was not completed in a timely fashion.

"The airport committee disagrees with the total cost," Sarratt said.

The committee, which believes the airport could be constructed for half of WK Dickson's estimate, wants the engineering firm to revise its cost estimate downward in the final draft of the economic report.

But Sarratt expressed doubt that would happen. Sarratt said WK Dickson would lose credibility if it drastically reduced its cost estimate.

"Dickson isn't going to back off (of the amount)," he said. "They'll just come down a token amount."

Sarratt then suggested terminating the contract with WK Dickson if the engineering firm fails to finalize the report within 30 days.

Despite objections from Sarratt, committee members agreed that committee member Bill Van Antwerp would contact the engineering firm to learn when the report is expected to be completed.

Dickson along with engineering firm Wilbur Smith Associates were paid $50,000 by the county to develop a conceptual plan, including site selection, layout, quantify the costs and benefits and identify the developmental impact on job creation. The remainder of the study cost was picked up by the state.