The Garnett Industrial Airport has had a busy fall season. Airport Manager Pat Schettler says they have made progress with purchasing the necessary properties for remodeling the 1940’s era runway. They have purchased the property and the easement for the new road east of the runway. They have purchased the house and property encroaching on the design of the new runway. There are several other properties and easements that are going to be required to be purchased before they can proceed to the next step. There has been success getting grants from KDOT to pay for 50%of the city’s 10% portion of the purchases.
The important thing to remember about the money spent at the airport is that 90% of the money spent on these projects are paid from FAA money not general taxpayer funds. This money will be spent on airport projects somewhere, so it’s to Garnett’s advantage to at least claim their share of that money. They are currently working on getting some matching funds from KDOT or other grant programs, so they can get the city’s portion down to 5% or less.
