The Acadia Parish Police Jury has a six-year capital improvement plan for LeGros Memorial Airport in Estherwood.
What it doesn’t have is the estimated $5.8 million price tag that goes along with the plan.
The parish receives $150,000 annually through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), a federal program that provides grants to public agencies — and, in some cases, to private owners and entities — for the planning and development of public-use airports that are included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems.
The money for this program is raised through taxes on airplane tickets sold to the public and a tax on aviation fuel.
To make up the difference, the police jury is applying for funding help in the amount of $2.4 million from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Division of Aviation.
In the application resolution, the jury notes that the improvements are “critically needed ... to substantially improve the safety and usability of LeGros Memorial Airport” but acknowledges that the parish “does not have sufficient funds of its own required for completing the needed improvements.”
Asked what kind of response the jury should expect fromthe request, Peggy Romero, parish grants coordinator, told jurors that, if it is determined that “safety” is a factor in the improvement, LADOTD “is pretty good about granting the funds.”
She noted that the grants usually are a 90-10 match, but added that, on occasion, the Federal Aviation Administration will kick in the 10 percent.
Using a mix of some local funding, AIP monies and state grant funding, the six-year plan for LeGros Memorial Airport includes:
2018: phase 1 of security fencing and gates ($168,000), aviation fuel facility ($80,000), and airfield drainage improvements ($60,000) for a total of $308,000.
2019: LED solar-powered taxiway reflectors ($40,000), airfield drainage improvements ($538,000), LED precision approach path indicator (PAPI) upgrade ($40,000), and clean and reseal joints on ramps and taxilane ($85,000) for a total of $703,000.
2020: five-unit hangar and apron ($567,000), airfield drainage improvements ($55,000), phase 2 of security fencing and gates ($156,000) for a total of $778,000.
2021: airfield drainage improvements ($623,000), new terminal building ($445,000) for a total of $1,068,000.
2022: runway lighting improvements ($433,000) for a total of $433,000.
2023: parallel taxiway ($2.5 million) for a total of $2.5 million.