>The Airport Advisory Committee is finalizing a draft of the LPA Aviation Consultants EPA findings for the proposed site for the county’s new airport to submit to the county and city commissioners. To view the LPA Aviation Consultants complete site selection presentation, click here. This should take you to the City of Griffin’s website, where you can find this presentation and other airport information under departments –> planning & zoning –> airport.
For the last five years, studies have been performed to assess the need and possibility of a new airport located in Spalding County. The LPA Group Aviation Consultants have identified two suitable potential sites for a new airport.
The primary site is located on the north side of Georgia Highway 16, roughly seven miles from Interstate 75. The secondary site is on the northern side of Spalding County just north of Highway 155/Jackson Road, though Mohl expressed disbelief that a new airport would ever actually be built on this site due to the large amounts of land acquisitions from home owners that would have to occur.
In addition to identifying these sites, the LPA Group also examined the costs and benefits of renovating the current airport. Their study confirmed that renovations could prove to be as expensive as a new build but provide fewer updates. Namely, the pavement strength could not be improved upon and the runway could only be extended to 4,500 feet maximum. Commercial and residential properties would also remain too close to the runway to comply with FAA standards.
There is a possibility that Spalding County could gain this new airport without using local monies, according to airport manager Robert Mohl. By applying for a federal grant, 95 percent of the proposed airport would be paid for with federal money. The state would pick up two and a half percent, leaving the city and county governments to pay one and a quarter percent each. Though Mohl is doubtful that it would come out “even in the wash,” the sale of the current airport would offset these local costs.
Even if the cost wasn’t offset completely, both Mohl and Airport Advisory Board member Carl Pruett believe the benefits far outweigh the cost. They expect the new airport to buoy the local economy in many ways.
By merely having the ability to accommodate larger planes, Spalding County could potentially bring in $1 million in taxes. Spalding County currently generates roughly $110,000 in taxes on the planes parked at the current airport. Robert Mohl, Spalding County airport manager four jets parked at the airport could generate $900,000 more in tax revenue.
Having a regional airport across the street would be a big draw for businesses looking to locate in the new industrial park, The Lakes at Green Valley. There would also be room for an industrial area directly around the airport perimeter. This would allow the businesses located on the current airport’s property to relocate and expand their businesses.
“Some people think that this airport is full of rich boys with their toys,” said Mohl as he drove around the commercial hangars of the Spalding County airport. “But these are blue collar workers, working hard and employing many people. If the new airport plan gets approved, we plan to do all we can to help these businesses relocate.”
“We’re heading down the death spiral right now,” said Mohl, referring to the weakening of the local economy. “This new airport is the best chance we have to stabilize and eventually boost our economy,” continued Pruett.
“We cannot attract large-scale, corporate tax dollars being as small as [this airport] is. This airport project will create jobs and let us compete on a global scale,” said Mohl. “Our primary airport site is 30-45 minutes from a major city, minutes from the interstate and across the street from a brand-new industrial park. It’s the perfect cocktail,” he continued.
The current airport is restricted from accommodating these larger jets due to relatively low pavement strength (a new airport runway would have more than double the current pavement strength, bringing the heaviest weight accommodated from 30,000 pounds to 75,000 pounds).
Since the current airport is “landlocked,” as Mohl puts it, there is no room for expansion. The current runway is one of the smallest in the state, Mohl reports, measuring 3,701 feet. The primary proposed site would have room for a 5,500 foot runway. It would also have larger safety areas and “set backs.”
Mohl says though “the FAA has not come down and policed us,” many of the buildings that currently surround the Spalding County airport are “grandfathered in” so to speak, and do not meet the current FAA guidelines for safe space around the runway.
Specifically, none of the buildings to the north of the runway should be allowed that close, and the entirety of the Roses shopping center to the southeast is in a dangerous zone. In fact, in 1997 Carvair plane suffered catastrophic engine failure, failed to become properly airborne, and crashed into the vacant Piggly Wiggly that was formerly beside Roses, killing both pilots.
A four-county area has been identified as an area that could build a regional airport to serve the Spalding, south Henry, Butts, and Lamar county areas. “This is a densely populated area where an airport would be useful,” said Pruett. “If we don’t build it, we can watch as one of our neighbors does,” he continued.
The GRIP 
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