Hatchell
LAURINBURG — The Southeast Regional Airport Authority met Thursday afternoon to discuss improvements at the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport.
The airport has been making repairs and upgrades to the warehouse, which will be getting a new tenant on Feb. 1. The authority approved a lease agreement with American Wood Fibers, Inc. The company will move into the warehouse with an eight-month lease at $8,000 a month. At the end of the eight months, they will go on a month-to-month agreement.
The company will also reimburse the airport for the monthly electricity bill. The motion to approve the new tenant was unanimous.
“We have been doing a lot of work to the warehouse and it looks really, really good,” JoAnn Gentry, executive director, said.
Gentry also reported that the 2.1 acres of land that the airport is swapping with the county was appraised for $20,000 and they are waiting to hear from the county about their appraisal on the 2.8 acres of land they have that’s involved in the land swap for Richmond Community College to house a truck driver training program.
The airport’s annual audit will be presented next month. And that meeting should be at the airport, said Seth Hatchell, assistant director. The authority has been meeting either at the NC Works conference room or at the city hall in Laurinburg for proper social distancing due to COVID-19. With the upgrades to the furniture in the conference room at the airport, Hatchell said the group can now meet there safely and the new authority members will have a chance to see the airport.
“At the last meeting, we discussed the problem with restrooms [at the airport] after hours. Most airports on the terminal on the apron side, they leave the door unlocked after hours,” Hatchell said. But for security reasons and because the airport’s fence is only four feet tall, they lock the doors. For pilots who fly into the airport to refuel or arrive after hours, they now have two portable bathrooms to use. The bathrooms cost the airport $170 a month and that includes getting them cleaned weekly.
The authority is taking quotes to add a permanent bathroom near the new T-hangers, Hatchell said.
The authority also talked about presenting its five-year plan to the county, the town of Maxton and the city of Laurinburg. That’s expected to happen in February.
Cheris Hodges can be reached at chodges@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.