BETHEL – Increased use at Bethel Regional Airport is driving the need to expand its 1996 aircraft apron, said Town Manager Scott Cole.
“There is a very strong interest in hangar space, fuel purchases and tie-down space, and this airport complements our destination area designation,” Cole said Thursday afternoon.
Cole said that last Friday, he was notified that Bethel was awarded $450,000 under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program.
“We don’t get a check; we have to do the work, and then we get reimbursed,” Cole said.
The allocation is the initial phase of a Federal Aviation Administration grant offer, which is subject to withdrawal if Bethel fails to submit a grant application by May 1.
But appropriations are done by town meeting vote, so selectmen have been reluctant to sign an engineering contract without having an enforceable grant, Cole said.
“It’s a minor but significant technical issue. We can’t submit for a grant until we’ve taken the project to bid, but to do that we have to spend about $90,000 for engineering services,” he said.
At Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, officials are to decide whether to sign contracts and convene a special town meeting to use surplus funds in case the grant doesn’t pan out, or sign an agreement with the expectation of getting the grant.
Dufresne-Henry has contracted with Bethel to perform aviation engineering services to expand the existing 4,400-square-foot apron to cover approximately 8,600 square feet.
The project is to boost aircraft tie-down spaces from eight to 14, with two more tie-downs for larger planes.
Additionally, it would allow private investors to build more hangars, and let the airport add a jet aviation fuel system to complement its existing 100-octane, low-lead system installed in January 2003.
Having a jet fuel system, Cole said, would allow any small aircraft – military, commercial or civilian – and private, military, med-evac or forest-fire suppression helicopters to refuel at the airport.
“With the $100,000 new jet aviation system, this airport would become the premier air facility in Maine for small airports,” Cole said.
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