Hangar Issue Resurfaces In City Meeting

WATER VALLEY – The airport hangar issue came in for another landing at the January meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen even though it wasn’t on the agenda.
The issue revolves around a proposal by Bill McGregor to build a private hangar at the municipal airport. The Lafayette County businessman and Water Valley property owner appeared before the board last month and asked for a ground lease to build a 50 by 60 foot insulated and secure hangar.
A motion by Alderman Larry Bell to allow the project to go forward died for lack of a second.
At this month’s meeting, Bell brought the issue up again near the end of the session. “How many here checked with airports?” Bell asked, referring to his suggestion last month that aldermen contact airports in the area to find out how they handle private hangars.
All three of the aldermen present – Donald Gray, Bobby Cox and Phillip Tallant – indicated that they had. Alderman Fred White is still out due to illness.
Bell then explained what he had learned from his conversation with officials at Grenada and Batesville. He said that the city would be required to put up ten percent of any FAA grant. “If you get a $300,000 grant, we’re going to have to put up $30,000.”
Bell said that he was told that it is better to let others build hangars rather than the city. He also commented on other airport related issues including the possibility of extending the runway as a prelude to operating under IFR (Instrument Flight Rules).
Mayor Larry Hart said, “Let me update you on where we are with Bill McGregor. First of all, this FAA plan is a longrange plan. It’s a fiveyear plan.”
He explained that the runway extension is included in the plan. “All the things that have been done out there are part of this plan. What appears to be the next logical step is go get some based aircraft out there.”
“As far as extending the runway, you’re out of luck if you don’t have any based aircraft out there.”
Mayor Hart continued that he had dealt with the FAA on the runway issue in the past. “You have to gather up what they call ‘tail numbers’ – people that would use the runway; people that keep that their birds out there.”
“We don’t have that. But, in talking to Bill McGregor since ouu last meeting, we were concerned about the timing of the thing as where we were on our hangar versus somebody else. But, that has taken care of itself in that Bill said that there is really no way that he can get to the project right now. He’s taken on some new work I think over at Batesville or somewhere that’s going to occupy his crews, he thought, up until summer.”
“By that time we’ll know where we are with the FAA on our project,” Mayor Hart said. “I really think we’ll know by the end of February.”
“I told Bill to feel very confident that the board didn’t say no per se to what he requested. It just was a timing issue. I was very confident that the board would accommodate him on anything he wanted to do.”
Mayor Hart added that he showed the plans for the city hangar along with some photos of Thangars to McGregor. “He didn’t see any problem with being compatible with color, outside wall height, this type thing, with anything that we might do here. So I think Bill was very satisfied with that.”
“I told him that we would stay in touch with him and see how he progressed and see when he might turn loose with a crew.”
Bell commented that he had talked with Randy Turman, manager of the Batesville Airport, and Turman told him at least five people should be committed to renting hangar space before it is built. “You only get $150 a month – if that much – out of them.”
Bell continued that Turman also said that Batesville officials were notified in November that the federal government had cut out some grants due to the budget crisis and they wouldn’t be getting their expected FAA grant this year.
Mayor Hart said that he felt confident that the money would be there for Water Valley’s project. “We’ll know by the end of February. I think we are in good shape the way we are headed. I believe Bill’s comfortable with what we worked on the other day.”

FAA Grant Program
When contacted by the Herald last week, Rans Black, manager of the FAA Airports District Office in Jackson, confirmed the Water Valley project was still in the planning stages. “The airport has requested federal funds for the improvements.”
“Authorization for the grant program only goes through January. We don’t have enough funding authorized this year to issue any grants yet,” he said. “We aren’t sure exactly what Congress will give us, so it’s hard to put a time to it.”
Black added that it would probably be sometime in the summer, “if all goes well with the grant program.”
When asked if granting a private lease and allowing an individual to build a hangar would cause problems for the grant, Black said, “As long as people were being treated equally the FAA would not have a problem with it.”
Black explained: “What I see typically for the private hangars is that the airport will provide a longterm ground lease to someone, say for 20 years. The private individual will construct his hangar and at the end of the 20 years the hangar becomes the airport’s property. Then the airport starts charging him a full hangar lease.”
Black said that when using FAA grant money the airside needs to have priority over things such as hangars. The airside is the part of an airport directly involved in the arrival and departure of aircraft.
“We’d want to make sure that the runway and taxiways and the lighting is in good shape,” he continued. “That’s required before you can spend money on revenue producing items such as hangars or fuel farms.”
The airport is under an FAA alert because the rotating beacon is out of service.

Issue Not Settled
Late last week Bill McGregor said that Mayor Hart had asked to meet him at the airport. “He discussed the city building some hangars out there. As I’ve said at least ten times before, that’s fine with me.”
He said that Mayor Hart asked him where he would like to put a hangar. “I told him it didn’t matter. Wherever the city would like me to put it. That was about the extend of our conversation.”He noted that it would be March before he could start on a hangar.
McGregor said that the issue was not settled and added, “Until the board votes to let me have a spot out there, that’s the only way I think it will be resolved.”
This is not the first time that McGregor has had dealings with Water Valley city government. He said that about 10 years ago he had made an offer to purchase the Bondafoam property from the people who owned it. “My original plan was to move my business to Water Valley.”
McGregor said that he had outgrown the facility where his business was located on the east side of Hwy. 7 between Water Valley and Oxford.
In the meantime, the city  purchased the Bondafoam property. According to property records, that purchase was made in September of 2003.
McGregor said Mayor Hart called him down to his office and offered to lease him the property. “I said, Larry, I’m not interested in leasing the property. I wanted to buy it.”
“I got mad about it because I didn’t think the city had any business sticking their nose in it in the first place,” McGregor continued. “How the mayor got involved I have no idea.”
McGregor said that he remained in his original location for another couple of years and then purchased the property on the west side of Hwy. 7 near the Hwy. 7 and Hwy. 9 intersection  where his business, McGregor Industrial Steel Fabrication, Inc., is currently located. The firm employs 30 people.
“That’s why I stayed in Lafayette County. Because the city bought the property I wanted to buy in Water Valley.”

WATER VALLEY – The city’s municipal airport has received over a million dollars in FAA grant money since 1966.

Figures provided by Kathleen Bergen of the FAA’s Atlantic Region show that since the first $58,750 was provided on May 4, 1966, the airport has been granted a total of $1,017,100.

The grant history for Water Valley Municipal Airport:

• May 4, 1966 – $58,750 to construct the 3000 by 50 foot runway, apron, connecting taxiway, entrance and road fencing.

• May 25, 1993 – $309,173 to reconstruct the runway, connecting taxiway and apron. The amount included “project cost overrun.”

• August 16, 2005 – $66,277 to overlay entrance road, refurbish airport beacon tower and install new airport beacon.

• August 14, 2007 – $156,257 to install medium intensity runway lights and medium intensity taxiway lights.

• June 5, 2008 – $220,274 to install perimeter fencing (11,400 linear feet).

• July 20,2010 – $206,368 to rehabilitate runway (3000 by 60 feet), taxiway (300 by 35 foot) and apron (5000 square yard).