Brooksville Status Report -2019
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:47 pm
Steve was unavailable, so Mayor Doug accompanied me to a meeting with the Brooksville airport director today. We didn't get a LOT out of the meeting, but at least they now have some faces to put with the names, so our relationship is a little more personal. (none of the people we met with have been in place for more than about 6 years, we've never met any of them before today!)
There's a LOT of information the Brooksville Airport website about their future plans. Pretty interesting reading if you've got time to dig through it. And everything we were told today is more or less in line with that information.
Without getting too much into speculation, what we were told is that nothing is expected to change within the next 12-18 months. (so, hopefully, we're good through at least the rest of 2019)
Pemco, the folks responsible for the big airplanes, is planning to shred some of those planes very soon. They're NOT making our runway an airplane salvage yard. They are "processing" the planes. Pulling off the usable parts, and scrapping the shell. So, the planes that are there will go away... more planes will come... but, the theory is that they won't be adding more planes and taking up more space.
We talked about how much space we need to do our thing. I assured them that what is available right now is fine. But, if they take away much more space, it could cause problems for us. So, they at least know the score.
Within 24 months, the extension of Telco Drive toward the runway will be complete, and there will be a new access gate right there at the center of the runway. When that happens, the Runway Drive gate will be sealed... and the part of Runway Drive that connects with the runway will be removed. FYI, we inquired about the possibility of using the current gate at the North end of the runway, and that ain't gonna happen.
The airport Master Plan includes hangars and maintenance facilities to the west of the part of the runway we are currently using, and that is where Pemco will be building their maintenance facility. The big question right now is exactly WHAT they are going to build, and when. That question mark is what's keeping them from giving us much in the way of assurances of what will be available to us in the long term.
The good news is that the South end of the runway (where there are currently airplanes) is not included in the Master Plan at all. So, once all of the Pemco construction is done, that end of the runway "should" be available to us and they will essentially "own" the part that is in front of their facility.
The scary part is the transitional period in between. When they start that construction project, how will it affect us? Will we be unable to use that section... and also unable to use the other section due to planes being there? We just don't know.
But, for now, we're okay. No guarantees or anything, but we're okay.
That's all I got.
There's a LOT of information the Brooksville Airport website about their future plans. Pretty interesting reading if you've got time to dig through it. And everything we were told today is more or less in line with that information.
Without getting too much into speculation, what we were told is that nothing is expected to change within the next 12-18 months. (so, hopefully, we're good through at least the rest of 2019)
Pemco, the folks responsible for the big airplanes, is planning to shred some of those planes very soon. They're NOT making our runway an airplane salvage yard. They are "processing" the planes. Pulling off the usable parts, and scrapping the shell. So, the planes that are there will go away... more planes will come... but, the theory is that they won't be adding more planes and taking up more space.
We talked about how much space we need to do our thing. I assured them that what is available right now is fine. But, if they take away much more space, it could cause problems for us. So, they at least know the score.
Within 24 months, the extension of Telco Drive toward the runway will be complete, and there will be a new access gate right there at the center of the runway. When that happens, the Runway Drive gate will be sealed... and the part of Runway Drive that connects with the runway will be removed. FYI, we inquired about the possibility of using the current gate at the North end of the runway, and that ain't gonna happen.
The airport Master Plan includes hangars and maintenance facilities to the west of the part of the runway we are currently using, and that is where Pemco will be building their maintenance facility. The big question right now is exactly WHAT they are going to build, and when. That question mark is what's keeping them from giving us much in the way of assurances of what will be available to us in the long term.
The good news is that the South end of the runway (where there are currently airplanes) is not included in the Master Plan at all. So, once all of the Pemco construction is done, that end of the runway "should" be available to us and they will essentially "own" the part that is in front of their facility.
The scary part is the transitional period in between. When they start that construction project, how will it affect us? Will we be unable to use that section... and also unable to use the other section due to planes being there? We just don't know.
But, for now, we're okay. No guarantees or anything, but we're okay.
That's all I got.