Airport Says Repayment Will Cut Short Other Improvements

The FAA wants $7 million back that was spent on a now defunct terminal project at Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR). The amount of the repayment request caught Horry County officials by surprise, according to Myrtlebeachonline.com. Gilland said county officials knew they were going to have to give some money back to the FAA, but that they thought it would be closer to $1 million.

The repayment means less money for the county's current effort to renovate and expand the airport's existing terminal, county officials said on October 24. The FAA had awarded the county a total of $17.4 million to clear the site and design a new terminal, which was rejected by Myrtle Beach's Community Appearance Board in April, 2007. So far the total spent on the project is $18 million, including some county money.

The grant was awarded on the condition that the county completes the project, according to FAA guidelines.

"Since the county will not pursue the project further, we are hereby requesting a refund of previously expended federal funds," Scott Seritt, the manager of the FAA's Atlanta Airports Division, wrote in a letter to County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland on Monday October, 22.

The FAA expects the county to pay the federal funds to them by Dec. 10, according to the letter. Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said there is no appeals process, but the agency would be willing to negotiate a payment plan with the county. The FAA is asking for money back that was associated only with design and planning, according to Bergen. The FAA is letting the county keep money spent on land costs because the airport could use that site for future expansion, she said.

Airport director Bob Kemp says they have the money, but paying back this amount to the FAA will short the airport from other projects such as the current renovation project a the existing terminal. The county is still assessing the letter and determining the best response, Kemp said. Gilland said that the county attorneys were investigating possible ways to reduce the amount.

County officials are not sure if they will ask Myrtle Beach, which agreed to the project in 2004, for assistance. The airport is run by the county but lies within city limits, requiring the county to get building permits from the city for any construction. "They were our partners in the planning and for the approval of a west-side terminal," she said. "If we're partners in the good, then it seems we ought to be partners in the bad things as well."

Myrtle Beach's mayor, John Rhodes, said he thought City Council did not have any responsibility for the failure of the project. "It's not our airport," he said. "It wasn't our project." Some city councilmen voted against the project because they thought it was too expensive.

"The FAA was in essence Horry County's partner in this project, so it's wrong for them to come up here in hindsight and say it's all Horry County government's fault," he said.

FMI: www.myrtlebeachairport.com, www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/