By Josh Troy
Enterprise-Journal
In a split vote Tuesday, McComb officials agreed to get the wheels of the ground for an airport hangar construction project.
Selectmen voted 4-2 to borrow $200,000 from the Mississippi Development Authority. The money, paired with another $200,000 contribution from Pike County, which jointly owns the airport with the city, and a $400,000 Mississippi Department of Transportation grant, will pay for the construction of 10 enclosed hangars at the McComb-Pike County Airport.
Selectmen Ted Tullos, Shawn Williams, Michael Cameron and Donovan Hill voted in favor of the loan. Selectmen Ronnie Brock and Devante Johnson opposed.
The loan will be paid back at an interest rate of 1% over 15 years.
Airport board president Bob Hensarling and Neel-Schaffer Engineering’s Garrett Smith will address the Pike County Board of Supervisors about their share of the financing on Mondays.
Tullos said after the meeting that the project is important for the area.
“We have to have it,” he said. “Planes come in from all over the United States. Our gasoline, our fuel that is, is lower than Laurel. Also, our location is a pretty good location for many aircraft to stop, military and others, I understand. We also have large corporations in the area that fly in and out of there.”
Tullos noted that airport officials have said revenue from hangar rentals would pay for the loan, and there is demand for them.
“They don’t have them in Hammond in New Orleans,” he said. “There’s a waiting list, something that’s needed. Why not us?”
Tullos liked how the city and county are able to partner in the project.
“Everything’s a win-win,” Tullos said. “We’re very fortunate at this point in time to have everything working our way.”
Cameron said the hangars would lead to more economic development.
“The city is part owner in the airport and we need to do what we need to do to let it grow and prosper,” he said.
Williams expressed similar sentiments.
“The airport board is a part of the city,” he said. “Anything that we can do to support an increase for the better of the city, I’m for it. They came to us with a need for hangars and found a way to get it.”
Johnson raised financial concerns.
“I just don’t think it’s feasible for the city right now,” Johnson said. “We have a capacity on borrowing and I think we need to be really good stewards of that. We’re right there at our capacity of borrowing.”
Neel-Schaffer officials in the past have said the loan should not impact the city’s borrowing capacity, but Johnson seemed doubtful.
Brock did not feel the loan was necessary.
“We’ve got some funding that’s coming down, infrastructure funding, and I thought that should have been delayed until we got that funding in,” Brock said of a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that just received Congressional approval. “We may not even need it.”
Had the city not approved the hangar loan and Biden’s infrastructure bill did not provide the necessary funding, Brock said he would have been willing to revisit seeking a loan.
Hill, who attended the meeting by speaker phone, could not be reached for comment.
