City installs new security at airport

New security improvements at Clarendon’s Smiley Johnson Airport have been completed thanks to community donors and a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation.

The state Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) grant paid fifty percent of the $19,186.96 needed to install multiple security cameras at the airport this summer, according to City Secretary and Airport Advisory Board Member Machiel Covey.

Covey said security has been an issue with people breaking into the pilots’ lounge and driving on the runway, damaging runway lights.

“It’s actually a federal crime for the public to drive on the runway,” Covey said.

Airport Board Chairman Chris Schollenbarger said planes have also been damaged at the airport.

“We had some airplanes that were shot, and we didn’t ever catch the culprits,” Schollenbarger said.

Those crimes will be harder to get away with now that the new cameras have been installed. Four cameras now monitor the airport with a 24/7 live feed going to the sheriff’s office. Two of the cameras can actually be repositioned remotely, and an app will soon allow airport board members to monitor the cameras from their smartphones or electronic devices.

“We can actually set up motion alarms,” Schollenbarger said, “but we have to be picky about how we set those because a bird or the wind blowing through a tree could set those off.”

Schollenbarger expressed his appreciation to Omega Electronics of Amarillo for their work to install the new security system and for them bringing the project in under budget.

“We appreciate so much the members of the community who donated to the airport,” Covey said. “Without their funds, this work would not have been possible.”

A total of $25,250 was donated to the city for airport improvements in 2019, Covey said.

That money along with more than $14,000 set aside many years ago by the city for airport improvements has been used to match RAMP money.

Last year, the airport board was able to crack seal and seal coat the runway and install new runway lights. Now, with about $9,000 leftover to work with, the airport board intends to apply for another grant to refurbish or replace the pilots’ lounge.