HOLLIDAYSBURG — A longtime proposal for building rental aircraft hangars at the Altoona-Blair County Airport now includes construction of an office complex for the magisterial district judge in the southern portion of the county.
The county, for years, has rented a building at 800 E. Main St. in Roaring Spring for Magisterial District Judge Craig Ormsby’s office and court. The current rate is $2,000 a month.
But if this proposal moves ahead, then the airport authority will build a 4,000-square-foot structure and lease it to the county, thereby yielding revenue the authority can use toward paying off the its construction loan.
“I’m very excited about this project,” said Commissioner Ted Beam Jr., liaison commissioner to the airport authority. “It’s going to be a major improvement for the airport … and we’re going to get a building that we’ll sort of be leasing from ourselves.”
Airport Manager Tracy Plessinger outlined the proposed $6.5 million project for commissioners who met Tuesday and asked for the county’s guarantee of a loan request being submitted to the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.
If that loan is awarded, it will fulfill the match requirement for state capital grants that are available for use toward the project, Plessinger said. So far, the state has released $750,000 in capital grants toward the effort to build 18 rental hangars.
The authority, which currently has 45 rental hangars, has long been interested in building more. Demand has remained steady even though some hangars are in poor condition.
Commissioners on Tuesday authorized Solicitor Nathan Karn to start working with airport authority Solicitor David Pertile on arrangements for the USDA loan application that could also lead to some refinancing of airport debt. The interest rate for this USDA loan, Plessinger said, is currently 2.375 percent and is scheduled, as of Jan. 1, to dro to 2.25 percent.
Commissioners Chairman Bruce Erb called the proposal a great project and asked if anyone had done a cash flow projection and considered options if anticipated state capital money is not released.
Plessinger said the fall-back plan is to stretch out the USDA loan repayments over 40 years, but with the state money, the loan could be paid off in 20 years, which is the preferred time frame.
Other portions of the plan call for building the district court building long enough to be shared with the Penn State Extension office staff now housed in the former Automated Flight Service Station building on airport grounds.
Beam said airport leaders discussed the option of turning the AFSS building into a district court building but found that renovation costs would exceed the cost of new construction.
Also, because the building is in a prime location for a corporate hangar which could bring in revenue, demolition seems to be the better option, Beam said.
“We’ve had discussion with a couple of potential (corporate hangar) clients,” Plessinger said.
Meanwhile, the authority’s plan also calls for the possible construction of a corporate hangar next to the airport’s general aviation welcome center wher fixed-based operator, IG Flight Services, is headquartered. Plessinger said that IG Flight Services, with four charter jets at the airport, is interested in a hangar for future growth.
