The Grenada Airport will soon receive some much-needed attention following the distribution of federal funds and action by the Grenada City Council earlier this month that will improve various aspects of the aviation complex.
The Grenada County airport was one of 63 across Mississippi to recently receive a portion of a more than $19.8 million allocation of funds for state airports as part of a bipartisan infrastructure package supported by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“Mississippi has been in need of serious investments in our state’s infrastructure,” Wicker said. “I was an early supporter of the bipartisan infrastructure package, which is making important investments in our nation’s hard infrastructure. These funds for Mississippi airports are some of the first fruits of that legislation. Targeted investments will help airports all across our state make repairs and improvements that will support travelers and boost our economy for decades to come.”
Grenada Airport received $110,000 of the total $19,859,920, distributed statewide, including nearly $11 million to six commercial airports. The funds are to be used for repairs and improvements to the aging airport such as runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, as well as terminal, airport-transit connections and roadway projects. This is the first of five annual rounds of funding Mississippi airports will receive.
The money comes from the Airport Infrastructure Grant program, one of three new aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The law provides $15 billion over five years for this program. The Federal Aviation Administration estimates the backlog of airport modernization and safety projects totals $43.6 billion.
Officials with Mississippi airports can submit projects they wish to use the funds on for FAA review in the coming weeks. The FAA encourages airports to prioritize projects that increase airport safety, equity and sustainability. The agency also plans to conduct outreach with the minority business community on these opportunities at airports across the nation.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America.”
U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) also recently announced the distribution of $108,000 in U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration grant funds. The Grenada Airport received a $22,000 grant, which is intended to provide economic relief for costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, debt service payments and combating the spread of pathogens at the airport. These grants are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
During its Dec. 13 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the lowest bid of $179,700 to Lewis Electric for replacement of the airport’s weather observation equipment.
“On Dec. 10, we took bids on a project to replace the airports AWA system, that’s the automated weather observation system,” Kyle Grubb with Willis Engineering said. “The bids came in well under budget and, of course, it’s all funded by grant money, so the city doesn’t have any kind of cost share.”
The Council also OK’d the Municipal Airport Project – Runway/Crack Sealing – Contract Agreement Services to Willis Engineering.
“What it would be is doing some crack sealing on the airport runway and doing some striping, which are two things that the airport has been written up for over the past few years,” Grubb said. “We’ve got it estimated the project cost would be about $265,000, the city’s share would be right at about $13,000 estimated.”
Lastly, the Council awarded Engineering Proposal Services for the Grenada Municipal Airport to Willis Engineering.
