ashe

The annual operations run more than that $500,000 a year. I believe it's more like $1million.

Btw, Watauga does not have an airport. Not really. Theirs can't handle anything more than single engine props. But people flying in with larger planes can pick from Wilkes, Hickory, or Mountain City, depending on which serves their final destination best.

The airport does not pay for itself. Not even close.

The top 1% of the county gets some benefit from it but the average everyday citizen gets nothing other than a tax bill to pay for it.

Contrary to what's been reported and that can easily be verified by looking at the county budget, we've been spending 500,000 a year on the airport for the last few years to lengthen a runway that can't even support the planes it was going to bring in. So now we have to spend more money to make it capable of supporting bigger planes the original goal of the expansion. This doesn't even include what we paid out in wages and maintenance.

This will be a never ending money pit, once this project is done they'll find yet another project it needs to do what it was suppose to do several million dollars ago. (Probably will need radar and tower upgrades after this).

The idea this is going to serve as a regional airport is a pie in the sky idea. To work as such we'd need good roads into all neighboring counties not just Watauga and Wilkes who already have airports. It will thus never be viable as a regional airport, not for the foreseeable future.

DoD this time. You have to turn your phone on for people to call you.

Fairplay, saw your wife in town last week. She said you were in France and Germany for the feds for five weeks. State or Commerce? Lost your new cell #. Call me

No, I call you Stupid when you are being stupid. It's not my fault that you can't comprehend the fact that the cost of the airport is bigger than any positive that it provides. Therefore, it is not a benefit. The wide thing to do is cut the losses. Grants have nothing to do with it. Taking grants just because they are available is stupid. It's still wasting tax money. The restrictions and conditions attached to grants have nothing to do not change the waste. Cut the losses and move on. Put that annual money somewhere else that actually helps the county. It's not my fault you are a moron and can't grasp the concept of not wasting money.

As usual, when you lack the intellectual resources to debate something, you resort to name calling. It is a continual display of your lack of intellectual diversity. You never fail to live down to your reputation. You should go see the Federal, State and local governments that the county has received grants from and learn the terms of all the various grants.

Note from GoNC: a portion of this post was removed for trolling.

Actually Stupid, I understand what does and does not benefit the county much better than you do. Just because a handful of individuals use it for their recreation does not mean it's a benefit. To be a benefit, it has to bring in more value to the county than it costs to keep it up.

Basking sees no personal benefit to him personally, so he doesn't like it. The fact that he is incapable of understanding a benefit to anyone else, or the county in general, speaks to his lack of understanding of public policy or the rules that come attached to grants. The airport is here to stay, basking. Get over it.

Why doesn't it benefit the public? People fly in to visit family, second home owners fly in and out. It's a touchdown hub for fuel. And i'm sure there are even more benefits.

It's not a good move. The airport serves no public benefit. I don't care if the money comes from state or federal grants. It's still a waste of tax money. Cut the county's losses and let it go

When you accept Federal or State grant money for an asset, especially under community development grants, you agree to the continued operation of that asset, whether it is a school, city or county owned fire department, hospital or airport. You are also responsible for the maintenance and general duty to prevent waste of that asset. So yes. Spending $270,000 to upgrade the airport is a good move.

No, the county is not obligated to keep it to any standard. They only must maintain set standards if it is kept open or remains the property of the county. Shut it down or sell it off and stop throwing money down a hole.

The county is legally obligated to maintain the airport to FAA standards. if you believe the county can place 6 inches of high density asphalt spread over 375,075 square feet, for $270,000 please enlighten everyone how that would work. The airport is here to stay. We are stuck with it for years to come. We should take advantage of every bit of help we can get.

I'm thinking it will require more than your standard asphalt mix...

Vannoys Pave?

We don't come out ahead, because the airport is a money pit. Forget the maintenance. Let Vannoy's repave it if they want it.

Thank you, maybe you have explained it now so the one's who are opposed to any and everything that the county gov't does can better understand it..

Look at it this way. The airport is due for repaving in two years. No one is going to give us grant money for routine maintenance. If we take the upgrade money and match with our 10% we come out way ahead. There is no way we could pay for repaving 375,075 sq ft of runway, plus taxiways and necessary subgrade repairs for $270,000. unfortunately our stupid county manager was not smart enough to explain this.

I'm glad to hear this will start in March 2016.

I removed a few posts that were off topic and/or trolling.