Walton County steers $5.5 million to DeFuniak Springs airport runway expansion, new terminal
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Walton County commissioners have agreed to steer $5.5 million of the federal dollars the county has received under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), a COVID-19 relief effort, to the DeFuniak Springs Municipal Airport to help fund a runway expansion project.
The outlay requested by the city, which operates the airport, came one week after DeFuniak Springs officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $6.9 million terminal building.
The new terminal will feature a massive lobby and include flight instruction classrooms and a pilots' lounge. Funding for that project was obtained from a variety of sources, including the Florida Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and state legislative appropriations.
Construction of the new terminal is scheduled to take 20 months.
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The expansion of one of the airport's two runways — Runway 9/27, which runs directly east and west — from just over 4,100 feet in length to slightly more than 5,000 feet, with some widening included, is a separate $11 million project.
The runway expansion will allow the airport to handle a wider variety of aircraft and potentially make it more attractive to visitors to the area who otherwise may use other area airports, including Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, Destin Executive Airport or Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport near Panama City Beach.
That is one of the reasons the city is improving the airport.
Pointing out to commissioners Tuesday that DeFuniak Springs Municipal Airport is "the only airport in Walton County," City Councilman Todd Bierbaum said that "over the last three years, the city has been very deliberate in our actions for the airport, with one simple goal: We want to be the premier general aviation airport on the Emerald Coast and a gateway to the beaches of South Walton."
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A general aviation airport differs from a commercial airport in that it does not offer regularly scheduled air carrier service, but is designed for private aircraft operations.
Bierbaum called the runway expansion "a key piece in the puzzle to seeing the airport grow and expand."
DeFuniak Springs has already obtained the property needed for the runway expansion, Bierbaum said. The city also has allocated "every ARPA dollar that we've received" to the terminal and runway expansion projects, he added.
However, getting the runway expansion completed would require the county to allocate $5.5 million to the project, Bierbaum said.
The city's half-share of the project, in addition to using ARPA dollars, will come from state Department of Transportation funding and from reallocating some of the funds previously allocated to the paving of Runway 18/36, a 2,700-foot north-south runway that has a dirt surface.
A partnership with the county on the Runway 9/27 project improve "a major untapped economic engine of Walton County," and could help bring "an unprecedented era of growth to our county," Bierbaum suggested.
The $5.5 million in ARPA dollars approved by the commission will come from the latest federal outlay of those dollars to the county, totaling $7.1 million.
Formal allocation of the county's ARPA funds to the airport will require the execution of an interlocal agreement between the two governments. That agreement will be brought to the commission at an upcoming meeting for final action.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton County using ARPA funds for DeFuniak Springs airport expansion
