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An article in last weekend's Mirror reported on the Altoona-Blair County Airport Authority's June 9 discussion of possible strategies for improving and upgrading the Martinsburg area air facility.
Looking ahead, the authority will have to determine what strategy will best meet the airport's current and future needs, as well as having the greatest likelihood of receiving federal funding.
While a sizable amount of federal money still is believed available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, there is -- and will continue to be --considerable competition for those funds, not only from airports the size of Blair's, but also presumably from much larger facilities, such as those in Washington, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
It is virtually impossible to predict when all of the federal money will have been allocated, but prospects for that money "drying up" -- whenever --should, and most likely will, prompt the authority to fast-track as much as possible its decision-making process.
The local authority must present to the feds the most compelling reasons why federal airport money should be directed here at this time.
But, as the June 9 meeting confirmed, the authority is not yet at the point of being able to make a strong case for receiving any of that federal money, because important decisions have yet to be made on what improvements and upgrades should be pursued, and in what order.
Nevertheless, the scope of most of the things being proposed and discussed should not require an inordinate amount of time to develop and finalize into a finished proposal.
With that in mind, the authority, at the June 9 meeting, took the reasonable step of directing that ways be sought to break down the airport's needs into smaller pieces that would be more timely, manageable and flexible, as well as hopefully improving chances for federal funding.
Potential goals being discussed by the authority make sense.
For example, authority Chairman Ben Stapelfeld Jr. expressed the opinion that the authority's priorities should center on constructing an additional corporate hangar, as well as stormwater management.
A new terminal building -- an idea presumably not yet off the table -- would be an image-enhancer for not only the airport, but the entire county as well.
However, regarding a new terminal structure, there is the important question of how much one really might be needed -- how well the current terminal is meeting the airport's needs.
Airport Manager Tracy Plessinger does not believe that the authority needs to embark on such an endeavor.
"We just need to spruce up what we have," Plessinger said, referring to the terminal building. "It needs an aesthetic spruce-up" including mechanical upgrades such as improvements to, or replacements of, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.
The total price tag for everything that the authority feels must be addressed at the airport, sooner or later, is about $2.2 million.
Plessinger said the drawback to applying for the available federal funds is that the authority would need to have bids and designs ready to go with no guarantee that it would receive any money.
That is a legitimate concern, but it is a condition not beyond the authority's ability to tackle successfully.
The right strategy in place early on will make the authority's job easier.