Jun. 1—Gainesville’s Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport is certainly one of 4 aviation services in Georgia receiving a portion of $12 million in federal grant funds for improved infrastructure.
The funding for sure Georgia airports, accredited by Congress in a bipartisan infrastructure invoice handed in 2021, was secured by Sens. Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff to deal with aviation infrastructure wants corresponding to drainage, erosion management and runway repairs.
Lee Gilmer will declare a complete of $1.4 million, distributed in $295,000 increments over a 5-year span. A few of that cash already has been tapped by metropolis officers for runway repaving tasks, in response to Airport Supervisor Lisa Poole, and a portion of the federal funds will probably go towards the long run repaving of the airport’s parallel taxiway, estimated to value round $3.5 million,
Bids for work on that challenge are anticipated to exit this week, she stated.
Poole stated additionally that any remaining portion of the funding probably may very well be spent on upgraded LED lighting on the airport’s taxiway.
“We’re at all times pursuing grant funding for our tasks, so to have further (cash) is a good asset,” Poole stated.
Whereas it is unclear why Gainesville was chosen as certainly one of 4 airports to obtain the federal grant, Poole stated Lee Gilmer is ranked fifth of 104 normal aviation airports within the state for fixed-based plane. This allows the airport to obtain the “most quantity” of federal {dollars}, she stated.
“We apply (for funding) yearly,” stated Poole. “The rating does play a job within the scoring of getting these tasks awarded. We’re undoubtedly (in) a superb place to place ourselves to get awarded these tasks.”
Airports in Savannah, Canton and Thomasville additionally had been named as potential recipients of a portion of the $12 million.
