THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240496
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MAPLE LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Currituck County commissioners will meet with county airport officials this afternoon to discuss the construction of 12 hangars at the Maple airport at an estimated cost of $250,000.
Airport advisers last week asked the county to pay for engineering plans for the T-shaped hangars in order to start construction bidding.
But the five-member Currituck Board of Commissioners killed the request and asked for an on-site work session to learn more specifics.
``We were somewhat surprised to find any kind of reluctance at all,'' Starkey Sharp, chairman of a seven-member airport advisory authority, said Tuesday.
``I think this is just a desire to proceed cautiously every step of the way.'' The Maple airport recently expanded its apron and added pilot-operated runway lights to a 4,000-foot strip. But it still lacks a storage facility or fuel and repair services.
The handful of small aircraft currently parked at the former Navy facility must be tied down and left outdoors.
Airport officials have said that adding the hangars and providing fuel service are the next logical steps to attracting more air traffic.
Some commissioners expressed concern at a recent meeting that the airport's location is not as convenient to the Outer Banks as is the airstrip in Manteo.
But Sharp said Tuesday that, depending on traffic, it takes no more time to reach Currituck's Corolla communities from Maple than from Manteo, where many pilots currently park their planes.
Airport promoters say now is the time to expand the facilities and compete with municipal airports in nearby Dare and Pasquotank counties and in Chesapeake, Va. Currituck's commercial industry and residential population are among the fastest growing in the state.
``We're at a point where we can finally make some money for this county,'' Commissioner Gene Gregory said at a recent meeting.
Commissioners proposed constructing the mainland facility with money from the county's occupancy tax, the fastest growing revenue source in Currituck.
Sharp said the authority is recommending that hangar spaces inside a building, about 100-by-40-foot, rent monthly for $100 to $175.
Users would pay for the facility, rather than taxpayers. Customers would include private airplane owners and commercial operators, he said, stressing the public airport is for everyone's use.
Sharp said he already has a waiting list of prospective tenants for the 12 hangars. Two businesses - an airplane maintenance company and Kitty Hawk Kites - want to set up shop at each end unit.
``There's a big need for aviation connections outside of major metropolitan areas,'' Sharp said. by CNB