Airport $80k under budget

Clarendon taxpayers could save at least $8,000 on airport renovations, according to information presented to the Board of Aldermen last Tuesday.

Alderman Janice Knorpp, who heads the committee overseeing grant-funded renovations at Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport, reported E.D. Baker had received the bid for the project and said the job should be about $80,000 under budget.

The $886,000 grant through the Texas Department of Transportation will fund runway and other improvements at the airport. The state will provide 90 percent of the funds, and the remaining ten percent will come from municipal funds.

City officials say it will be months before all the paperwork is done on the grant, but City Administrator Sean Pate said Clarendon could ultimately save between $8,000 and $10,000 thanks to the project bid coming in under budget. The savings could also provide a cushion if workers run into anything unexpected during construction.

The project should start the middle of this summer.

In other city business last week, aldermen considered a new sign for the airport and decided to have it read “Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport / Bass Field.”

Joe Shadle addressed the board concerning limbs being brought to the Recycling Center for chipping. The board discussed charging utility companies and construction companies to discard limbs. City Hall will check with other cities in the area.

In his Administrator’s Report, Pate said he had received a notice from AEP/Mutual Energy that they will start doing electrical disconnects. If a customer does not make payment arrangements, the electric company will disconnect service 15 days after the date of the mailed notice.