Mount Olive Town Board approves airport hangar
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 9, 2015 1:46 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive Town Board that was sworn into office Monday night included two new members.
Jerry L. Harper took over as the at-large commissioner and Harlie Junior Carmichael as the District 2 member.
Harper defeated longtime At-large Commissioner Ray Thompson in the election while Carmichael defeated Danny King for the District 2 seat.
Commissioner Jerry Armstrong did not seek re-election in District 2.
Also sworn in were Mayor Ray McDonald Sr. and Commissioners Kenny Talton, District 1; Tom Preston, District 3; and Joe Scott, District 4, all of whom were unopposed in the Nov. 3 municipal election.
Scott was also elected as mayor pro-tem by his fellow board members.
Wayne County Clerk of Court Pam Minshew administered the oaths of office.
In the only agenda item requiring board action, commissioners voted 4-1 to authorize Town Manager Charles Brown to sign a contract for the design of a new hangar at the Mount Olive Airport.
Talton suggested that the issue be tabled to allow the board, particularly its new members, time to study the issue.
He voted against the contract. Carmichael did not vote, but was counted as a yes.
McDonald and Airport Committee members said the town could not afford a delay in using the money since such a delay could mean the town would lose the money.
Also, McDonald told commissioners that the contract was for design only, and that any further action would have to come back before the board for approval.
The design contract was awarded to the engineering firm of Talbert Bright of Wilmington.
The town has used that firm for a number of years for its airport projects.
The airport receives $166,667 in Vision 100 funds annually from the FAA and state Department of Transportation's Division of Aviation.
The town pays a 10-person match, $16,667, for the funds.
The airport can bank these funds for three years after which the funds expire if not used, Brown said.
The money cannot be used for anything other than improvements at the airport and even those expenditures must be approved by the FAA and Division of Aviation.
The town will use $91,160 from its 2012 Vision 100 funds for the $120,000 design work.
The remainder will come from the 2013 Vision 100 allocation.
The town currently has somewhat more than $525,000 in Vision 100 funds.
The 100-foot-by-100-foot hangar is expected to cost approximately $1 million.
"We have $91,000 that is in our Vision 100 money," Brown said. "That money is set to expire in May 2016. You can only bank that money for three years.
"So the design phase of this is about $120,000. What they (board) have asked to do, they are about $300,000 short of the total construction cost of that hangar, so they have asked the FAA to encumber the 2017 and 2018 Vision 100 money to allow them to use it toward construction."
The town has received tentative approval of that request, he said.
The hangar also will include an approximately 20-foot lean-to, shops and maintenance shed.