|
|
|
GREENVILLE — Because the local airport serves the Greater Moosehead Lake region, Greenville selectmen on Wednesday agreed to seek $10,000 each for airport improvements from Somerset and Piscataquis county governments. Town officials gave commissioners in both counties advance notice last year that they would seek some financial support. Selectmen formalized the request this week and directed Town Manager John Simko to write letters to the commissioners advising them of the request. To reflect the regional use, Simko said town officials were working to change the status of the airport from municipal to regional. Town funds have been approved to develop a charter for an airport authority to oversee the operation of the airport, he noted. An aggressive four- to five-year plan to improve the municipal airport, which also is used by those living in and visiting the northern Somerset County and Piscataquis County townships outside of Greenville, has been developed. Simko said the town soon will make a nearly $100,000 investment in the airport which will act as seed money for hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state funds. These funds will pay the cost of removing obstructions from the airport such as trees and brush, as well as rebuilding and reconstructing the 4,000-foot main runway and installing new lights. Outside of this investment, Simko said other improvements are in line for the airport. Greenville is expected to receive a new front-end loader with snow pusher and snowblower attachments through the Department of Transportation. The town’s share of this new equipment is about $8,500. In addition, the town plans to seek funds for a storage building at the airport to house the new equipment. Another improvement to be conducted at the airport, which was briefly discussed Wednesday, is the installation of electronic equipment that will collect accurate meteorological data at the airport. The town also is working to secure federal funds for a transmitter that would send the collected weather information to two-way radio users in the region and could be linked to the current repeater system to allow pilots access to the information. Simko informed selectmen that the National Weather Service plans to install a prefabricated building on airport property to house the weather collection devices. A concrete pad already has been installed for the “overgrown ice shack-like” building, he said. |