The Fayette County Airport Authority granted Sleighter Engineering permission Wednesday night to solicit bids for a hangar construction project that could cost an estimated $2 million at Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport.
Bid specifications will be available at the authority office for companies interested in submitting proposals for the hangar project.
The airport authorized the payment of $52,644.50 in bills from its line of credit with Somerset Bank & Trust Co. to Sleighter Engineering for work that has already been completed on the project.
At last month's meeting, the authority directed airport Manager John “Bud” Neckerauer to set up an account at Somerset Bank & Trust Co. to deposit $1 million in matching funds provided by Hardy, the owner of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa and 84 Lumber Co., through an economic development grant.
Bill Gerke, authority chairman, said Hardy's attorney had wired the $1 million into the account at Somerset Bank & Trust Co.
The Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Project has provided a $1 million grant.
William Martin, the authority's solicitor, said he was not sure if the state budget impasse would delay the distribution of the $1 million RCAP grant.
Under the conditions of the grant agreement, Martin said the $1 million in matching funds provided by Hardy can only be earmarked for the hangar project. If the funds are used for any other purpose, the authority must pay back the funds with interest to Hardy.
The authority designated all five authority members as signatories on the account at Somerset Bank & Trust Co.
Construction is expected to begin as soon as funding has been secured and approvals are received from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The $2 million project will include the construction of three corporate hangars and 30 nestled T hangars in five buildings. Authority members said the project is needed because the airport's hangars are 100 percent full.
In other business, the authority voted to increase the salary of employee Wayne Morris from $9.50 an hour to $10.50 an hour.
Cindy Ekas is Trib Total Media contributing writer.
