Copyright Arkansas Online
ROGERS -- Expansion of the Rogers Executive Airport will continue following City Council approval Tuesday. The council authorized the mayor and city clerk Tuesday to move forward with a contract with Grant Garrett Excavating for the T-Hangar Apron Expansion Project at the Rogers airport. The council approved an appropriation of $388,843 for the project. The money will go toward developing a new site in the north T-Hangar area of the airport that could later be developed with additional hangars, according to David Krutsch, airport manager. The project will include grading, fill and utility relocations, he said. The project began about two years ago but was delayed following the May 2024 tornado as the city worked to coordinate with utility companies, according to Krutsch. The project is over budget and this will be an additional cost, Krutsch told the Transportation Committee in its meeting before the full council met. The state granted the city $300,000 for the project, according to Krutsch. This will also not get them to a completed site, he said. "It will not get us the way to the new hangar site, but it will take a huge amount of the development costs out and I believe that will make us successful in recruiting a developer to build that site," he said. The council voted 7-0 to approve the contract and appropriation. Councilman Hayes Minor was not present Tuesday. Airports in Northwest Arkansas are trying to keep up with the region's growth just like other infrastructure in the region, Krutsch told the council's Transportation Committee meeting in August. Private developers are expressing interest in using the airport site as more facilities become available. "We're in a golden age of general aviation in Northwest Arkansas right now," he told the committee. In an interview in July, Krutsch said the list of people waiting for hangar space at Rogers Executive Airport is in the triple digits. He said then Rogers has been focused for the last few years on accelerating plans to expand the airport's existing 300,000 square feet on its east and west sides. In other business Tuesday, the City Council approved $250,000 for improvements of the intersection of Walnut and 24th streets in a 7-0 vote. The improvements include moving utilities and updating the wiring of the stoplight, according to city staff. The council also voted to move its next meeting from Nov. 11 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at City Hall because of the Veterans Day holiday.
