The Fayette County Commissioners have entered into an agreement to obtain grant funds for the county airport.
The funds are through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
“We actually weren’t aware we were getting it until our airport consultant called us and said that all airports got something from the CARES Act,” explained Commissioner Dan Dean. “The purpose was the federal government wanted to make sure all the airports were running and available and not shut down due to economic crises — especially the county airports.”
The grant funds haven’t been received yet as Dean explained, it is “a promise” at this point. It has been applied for and should be obtained, according to officials. Currently, county officials are documenting the use of funds that should be reimbursable once the grant funds are available.
According to Dean, the local grant is worth $30,000 and can be used to cover airport expenses. While cuts are being made in the budget to other county departments and staffing largely due to a decrease in sales tax revenue during mass shutdowns of businesses, the grant will assist in not having to make those cuts at the airport.
“We’re using it to run the airport as normal,” said Dean. “That’s what we’re permitted to use it for. So, there will not be any layoffs or slow downs at our airport due to the COVID-19 crisis.”
Dean explained the airport has one full-time manager and an as-needed manager that fills in when the full-time manager is not present.
When asked if the grant could potentially save the county money by not having to allocate funds to the airport, Dean explained that it does, at least from his interpretation of the situation.
In other recent news from the commissioners’ office, a contract was entered into with Axis Civil Construction for a replacement of the Danville Road bridge, and a conference call was held with local elected officials.
The conference call included discussion on status updates pertaining to the pandemic and “permissible uses” of the CARES Act funding mentioned above.
In a recent virtually-held Fayette County Land Bank meeting, treasurer Susan Dunn presented a balance of $145,569.23. It was accepted that any bills pertaining to mowing of property located at 310 McElwain St. are to be paid.
There were two sealed bids received for the purchase of Land Bank-owned property located at 310 McElwain St.
One bid was from Christopher Williams for $3,580, while the other bid was from Marjorie Jackson for $7,500. The bid from Jackson was accepted.
The sale of property located at 406/408 Main St. is still pending. As the property cannot sell for less than the appraised value, negotiations for sale will continue.
Other Land Bank properties are on hold as a stay order was issued on July 30 by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. According to minutes from the meeting, the stay order basically asked courts not to make final decisions/ judgments at this time. While title work and filing have been completed, no judgments are to be made until after Aug. 1. The properties on hold include:
-833 Millwood Ave.: advertised complaint for foreclosure
-824 John St.: advertised complaint for foreclosure
-229 Green St.: advertised complaint for foreclosure
-1031 Lakeview Ave.: foreclosure in process
-104 E. Paint St.: foreclosure in process
-1226 and 1228 E. Paint St.: title work has been updated, foreclosure in process
-29 Market St., Bloomingburg: advertised complaint for foreclosure -80 Biddle Blvd., Bloomingburg: advertised complaint for foreclosure -61 Biddle Blvd., Bloomingburg: foreclosure in process
The three properties located in Bloomingburg are to be transferred to the Village of Bloomingburg once transfer to the Land Bank is complete. The village has reimbursed expenses to the Land Bank.
Properties being considered for transfer to the Land Bank include: 710 Clinton Ave., 433 E. Court St., 833 Millwood Ave., 738 E. Paint St., 1228 E. Paint St., 543 Albin Ave., 520 Carolyn Road, 414 Earl Ave., 734 S. Fayette St., 318 Florence St., 615 E. Paint St., 1221 E. Paint St., 419 Western Ave. and 139 Jasper Coil Road.
The next Fayette County Land Bank virtual meeting is scheduled for June 29 at 10:30 a.m.
Stay with the Record-Herald weekly for more updates from the Fayette County Commissioners. The Fayette County Commissioners’ Office is located at 133 S. Main St., suite 401 in Washington Court House, and their office hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They can be reached at 740-335-0720. Condensed minutes from the meetings are available on the county website.
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355 or on Twitter @JennMWoods.
