New airport at standstill pending federal approval

SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::

Although officials of the city of Griffin, Spalding County and the Griffin-Spalding County Airport Authority have approved plans to move the proposed new airport forward, it remains at a standstill pending Federal Aviation Administration approval.
Dick Morrow, who serves on the Griffin Board of Commissioners and as chairman of the Airport Authority, said the project is “in limbo” in the midst of “federal red tape.”
He went on to add, “GDoT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) tells us it’s going to be approved because everyone is in favor of it, but we’re in limbo. I’m still optimistic, but I must say, I’m leery of waiting.”
Morrow, long a supporter of the proposed new airport, has said will meet GDoT’s long-range plan of placing regional airports throughout the state, but the project cannot move forward until final FAA approval is granted.
“GDoT felt very confident three weeks ago that everything would be moving forward very quickly, but it isn’t,” Morrow said. “We’re told everything is okay; it’s just red tape at work.”
Local officials are moving forward with the approval processes as it can in anticipation of federal approval being granted.
Morrow said the Airport Authority has approved the new airport design contract as well as a contract to perform surveys on the current airport pending the move to the new facility.
“Both were authorized pending FAA approval,” Morrow said. “The RFQ (request for qualification) for bond counsel is also out, so we’ll be picking one. We’ll be ready to go. It’s a pretty simple bond issue – it isn’t a complicated one – so we should be ready to begin buying land early next year. It should only take 60 to 90 days to secure the bond funds.” Ω