MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake said dirt could begin moving on the Morgantown Municipal Airport’s 1,001-foot runway extension by the end of September 2019.
Further, Brake said the city’s reliance on the federal Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program to complete the $31 million project is likely over.
An update on the project was one of many topics covered Sunday morning as Morgantown City Council and administration met at the West Virginia Botanic Garden to assess the city’s progress at the midway point of its 2017-2019 comprehensive plan.
The IRT program allows military units to work on public works projects like the runway extension as training exercises. The savings generated through the program was once thought to be the cornerstone of completing the long-coveted runway extension.
That belief began to shift after the city’s initial dealings with the program. As the opening phase of airport improvements, Air Force Reservists arrived in April 2017 to build three new aircraft hangar buildings. The project was behind from the start, and by the time the reservists left, a portion of one building was complete, forcing the city to contract the rest of the work.
Brake said the city’s most recent application for IRT assistance — to move 4 million cubic yards of earth from the site of a future business park to the runway extension site — was declined and the work will be done through a private contractor.
“Quite honestly, I think this is a better arrangement,” Brake said. “We have had a wonderful relationship with the IRT program, but I think by going through a private contractor we can have a much more reliable timeframe to complete this.”
He went on to say, “The notion that this thing could have been paid for with free labor, that’s just outside the realm.”
The question now becomes just how much of the $31 million the city will be responsible for. City administration is in the process of finalizing its application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which will use a benefit cost analysis to determine what percentage of the project it intends to fund.
“If we get a reimbursement rate of 70 percent or higher, that’s worth celebrating,” Brake said, noting 70 percent coverage from the FAA would leave the city covering $9 million to $10 million.
He explained that the creation of a tax increment finance (TIF) district would generate funding for the improvements, which would be completed and funded over multiple years.
The city expects to hear how much the FAA plans to invest by the end of March 2019.
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