Nov. 22--The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority's incoming vice chairman wants to make sure the airport's plan to replac portable hangars is satisfactory to members of the general aviation community who will use them.
"We want to make sure we can get it done and get it done nicely," said Robert Spencer, a Manatee County SMAA representative. "And we want to make sure it's something people can afford because they are used to the lower rates."
Fredrick "Rick" Piccolo, the President and CEO of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, assured Spencer and the other board members that was the point of hiring a consultant; to make sure the project is done completely and with the intention of supplying enough space to meet demand.
The plan presented by Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering would outfit SRQ with 85 hangars of varying size, which would provide more than enough space to accommodate the airport's 68-person waiting list.
The Florida Department of Transportation will provide a 50/50 grant for the engineering phase of the project and the SRQ staff anticipates a supplemental grant next year for the construction phase. The authority unanimously authorized Sarasota County representative and former vice chair of the SMAA John Stafford to execute a design contract with ICE for $135,548.
The SMAA's sixth board member and outgoing chair, Carlos Beruff, ducked out of the meeting after new officers were seleced. Stafford replaced Beruff as chair. Beruff was selected for the role of SMAA secretary.
In May, several members of the local general aviation community who own portable hangars at SRQ spoke out against the airport staff's decision to remove them.
"During this discussion some of the owners/tenants requested the airport provide them an opportunity to relocate their aircraft into another hangar facility at the airport. Since there is currently no available hangar space at the airport, the board directed staff to research the cost, including whether any funding would be available fro FDOT, for construction of new t-hangars," according to meeting documents.
In September, the SMAA selected South Carolina-based ICE to estimate the scope and cost of the hangar project. ICE, which has offices in Tampa, has estimated the design and planning part of the project will take approximately seven months to complete, including permitting and bidding.
ICE was also tasked with estimating the cost of the project, which came to roughly $2.8 million.
SRQ's agreements with portable hangar tenants run two years, Piccolo said, so it's conceivable the project could be finished before the agreements expire. Still, construction on new hangars can't begin until the portable hangars are removed.
"Even if port-a-port owners are happy to take the new hangars, there's still going to be a time wher they have to take it (their aircraft) out," Piccolo said. "We're going to try to make it as painless as possible."
