County OKs $100K for Airport Road: 500-1,000 Jobs, $50M in Investments Expected

By Janet L. Metzner, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Apr. 20–A road to the east end of the Morgantown Municipal Airport is $100,000 closer to being built.

The Monongalia County Commission voted to contribute the money Wednesday. This follows a vote last week by Monongalia County Development Authority to put in $100,000, as well.

The cost for designing the road could be up to $300,000. Morgantown City Council will soon consider contributing its $100,000 share of the project, City Manager Dan Boroff said.

The project will spur economic development at the airport, Boroff said. The road will lead to future developments at the east end of the airport, where the city plans to build a $2.2 million, 50-acre, light industrial park, and the Army National Guard plans to build an $18 million readiness center.

The city plans to move its 40 Thangars — hangars for private aircraft — to the east end of the airport, leaving room to build more corporate hangars near the terminal. More Thangars will be constructed at the east end, he said.

“Our objective, in addition to all these improvements, is to attract five to 10 brand-new businesses or factories to the park, generating investments of approximately $50 million, and potentially employing 500 to 1,000 people,” he said. Five corporations want to bring corporate aircraft to Morgantown if more corporate hangars are available, Boroff said. Currently there are only two corporate hangars, one for WVU and one for Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. Financing the project Commissioners unanimously agreed to contribute “up to $100,000″ interest free, toward the design work. At Commissioner Asel Kennedy’s urging, the panel stopped short of calling it a loan, and left contract work and terminology up to attorneys.

Boroff said money spent on designing the project could be recouped beginning in three years, as the city sells developed land at the industrial park.

The road location is not set, said Bob Hammel, airport director. The east side of the airport is close to the Glenmark Centre off Monongalia County 857.

Construction will cost between $1.5 million to $3.5 million, according to initial estimates. Boroff said the city is already working on financing construction, as well.

“We already have a number of assets already in hand,” Boroff told county commissioners. “We’ve now arrived at a point to move forward.”

The city has one unexpected source of financing — money from selling coal.

The city found coal while creating the 50-acre plateau for the industrial park and constructing the 1,100-foot runway safety area, one of the airport’s current projects, Boroff said.

“We recently uncovered about 20,000 tons of coal on site, potentially worth $800,000, which is also available for this (road) project,” he told commissioners.

Once the coal, now piled near the site, is put out for bid and sold, City Council will have the final decision on allocating the money, Boroff said.

The city will also tap into other means to fund the road, Boroff said.

“The city is ready to dedicate all the extraordinary taxes from B&O (business and occupation tax) construction generated by the armory and other developments, to funding this road,” Boroff said.

They’re also looking for grants.

“We’ve entered into a partnership with the county development authority and currently together are working on industrial access grants totaling $1.2 million over the next three years,” he said.

Also, last week the city decided to offer the industrial park as collateral to pay back potential federal or state development loans.

“We will repay as we sell the lots in the industrial park,” he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

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