Commissioners Invest in Airport Infrastructure
As development at the county airport in Middlefield continues to take flight, Geauga County Commissioners approved a $1,330,000 encumbrance and expenditure for the construction of a new T-hangar, as well as upgrades to existing facilities for the Geauga County Airport Authority, at their Dec. 17 meeting.
As development at the county airport in Middlefield continues to take flight, Geauga County Commissioners approved a $1,330,000 encumbrance and expenditure for the construction of a new T-hangar, as well as upgrades to existing facilities for the Geauga County Airport Authority, at their Dec. 17 meeting.
The amount was approved for January 2025, pending execution of an agreement for capital improvement funding.
Airport Authority President Chip Hess provided commissioners with some background on their efforts.
“Over a year ago, (the Federal Aviation Administration) made us aware that there would be funding available through bipartisan infrastructure legislation to fund buildings,” Hess said. “Up until that point, FAA funding was not available for buildings.”
The FAA had agreed to help GCA fund the new building and county commissioners submitted the documentation for approval, only to be told they needed to meet FAA standards. The documents had only been updated in the past month, Hess said, hence the ask being at the end of the year.
“(County Administrator Gerry Morgan) was nice enough then to put together a simple agreement between the airport authority and the commissioners about how the funding would take place,” Hess said.
During that discussion, it was mentioned it might be best for the airport authority to keep the FAA money as it comes back to the airport, Hess added, rather than regularly ask for money at budget hearings.
“We want to fix the hangars, the original buildings at the airport, they’re leaking right now,” he said. “We got rooms that are not occupiable. We also want to upgrade the living quarters for the helicopter crews for the (University Hospitals) helicopter.”
The hangar project is ready for bid, Hess explained. With the funds allocated, they could get the job on the books for spring of 2025.
Airport Manager Ric Blamer provided information about the T-hangar at the commissioners Dec. 10 meeting. It will be eight units and approximately 12,500 square feet, he said, and is large enough to house larger aircraft, including one with a 60-foot wingspan.
Spaces in the hangar had been sold for over a year, with a wait list of 32 people the morning of the Dec. 10 meeting.
An earlier set of hangars was completed in April of 2022 and have been fully occupied since, Blamer said. He added the airport’s hangar rental rates hang in the middle of the road — some are less than competitors while the newer ones have the highest rates.
New, clean hangars mean being able to ask for a higher rental rate, Commissioner Tim Lennon noted.
The quality of the airport’s infrastructure is important to its Experimental Aircraft Association chapter, something EAA President Tim Conner elaborated on.
While Blamer is the airport manager, Conner explained he has no staff and the EAA chapter picks up those jobs, and they need the proper infrastructure to do so. Their work can vary from changing the toilet paper in restrooms to running relay flights for Geauga residents who need medical treatment at major institutions out of state, he said.
“We certainly support the acquisition of another hangar because aircrafts at the airport are part of what makes it work,” Conner said. “There’s a lot of people who use their aircraft for business and we can’t do that if we don’t have hangars to put those airplanes in.”
Once the hangar is bid, the association would like to start “knocking down” the list of things to fix at the airport, Hess said.
“With the commissioners’ support, we have really generated, or created, a popular location for the people who have aircraft and we want to continue that momentum moving forward,” he added.
The authority is looking to put facilities on a maintenance schedule, he noted, something that should keep the buildings from falling into disrepair.
This is a significant investment, Lennon said.
“I know the Geauga Airport, you guys will take super care of it, but it’s imperative we make this thing last,” he said.
