Published: October 14, 2009 01:59 pm      

Loan plan breathes hope into T-hangar project

GUTHRIE — The Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport Board on Tuesday approved by a 5-1 vote to have the Guthrie Industrial Development Authority borrow up to $300,000 from the Edmond Economic Development Authority and the Logan County Economic Development Council to build a new T-hangar on airport property.

The proposal now goes to the Guthrie City Council for consideration at its Oct. 20 meeting. The EEDA and the LCEDC will vote on the measure at its respective meetings. The EEDA will meet Oct. 20.

The GIDA, a separate public trust, will incur the debt. There will be no debt to the City of Guthrie or the City of Edmond for the T-hangar project, said board member Richard Geib of Edmond.

EEDA Executive Director Janet Yowell said the two economic development entities will split the loan amount and will back the loan with cash they both already have in the bank. She said the interest rate for the loan will be decided at a later meeting.

“When Edmond first got involved (in the airport), the city manager at the time (in Guthrie) came to us and said we’ve got an airport with over 100 planes and over 50 percent of the ownership are Edmond residents,” Yowell said. “We think there’s a great need for more hangars. It’s the biggest request at any airport right now. It’s our goal to grow and expand the airport and this is the best way to get it off the ground.”

Yowell said neither state nor federal funds may be used for T-hangar construction, but this construction is critical as a future revenue generator.

“In order to continue to get federal and state funding we need to generate more activity at the airport and the way to do that is to get more planes out there. We look at it as an amenity to Edmond businesses,” she said.

Geib said plans call for engineering work on the project to begin in November and bids for construction of the T-hangar to be let in December through mid-January. A final bidder would be selected in February with a 60-day construction deadline. The project is expected to be completed and open by the first of May.

“We put a lot of time and effort into this project,” Geib said. “We looked at several different options. Everything just fell into place. This is about as fast and organized as you can get.”

The T-hangar would be able to accommodate at least 10 airplanes and would be located with easy access to the airport taxiway.

Board Vice Chairman Lamar Wade said he believes the T-hangar can be built for less than $300,000. He said the board voted to go with a 20-year repayment plan.

Wade said repayment of the loan primarily will come from revenue generated from renting out the T-hangar space. According to the loan proposal, the airport manager will be responsible for the management of the hangars.

Wade said the airport board looked at a number of options to build the T-hangar in the past year or so, but none of those options proved viable.

“Our problem is that building these hangars is so complicated,” Wade said. “We kept hitting (regulation) roadblocks. We had to go back to the drawing board. It’s been a learning curve for us. Unless somebody throws a cog in the wheel, I think this thing is going to work.”

The hangars currently at the airport are privately owned and most are on 30-year leases, providing little revenue to the airport, Yowell said.

During the meeting, Guthrie resident John Vance inquired about the possibility of building a private corporate hangar at the airport.

Vance told the board he could build a T-hangar at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City, but preferred to build in Guthrie. He said having a hangar at the Geoport would be more convenient to him because his auto business is in Guthrie.

Guthrie board member Joe Underwood told Vance that any individual who meets the qualifications and receives Guthrie City Council approval can build a hangar at the airport.

In other action, the board approved renewing a wildlife contract with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife to help control the animal population around the airport. The board also approved the 2010 board meeting date schedule.



MANAGING EDITOR LISA SHEARER contributed to this report.