Some Neighbors Still Oppose Safety Improvements At
Grant-Valkaria Airport
The County Commission in Brevard County, FL is set to vote
Tuesday on whether to accept FAA AIP funding for various safety
improvements at Grant-Valkaria Airport (X59), over the objections
of some who live nearby.
Grant-Valkaria Airport (X59)
The town of Grant-Valkaria has attempted on several occasions to
restrict some legitimate aviation activities at the airport, but
has been rebuffed at every turn by the FAA and Florida officials.
Most recently, they attempted to pass an ordinance restricting
flight instruction at the airport, notwithstanding the fact that
they had been told on numerous occasions they did not have the
legal jurisdiction to do so.
Now, the County Commission, which does have jurisdiction over
the airport, will consider an item at a meeting Tuesday that would
accept a joint AIP and Florida DOT grant for X59 for such items as
runway and taxiway painting and other re-marking, airport beacon
installation, lighted windsock installation, precision Approach
Path Indicator (PAPI) installation, runway End Identifier Lighting
(REIL) installation, and more. It also provides authorization for
the Airport Commission Chair to sign both grants and JPAs from FAA
and FDOT, upon receipt, as consistent with these improvements.
The grants would total $315,000, of which the county would be
responsible for about $3,160, according to ANN's sources close to
the situation.
The items on the improvement list are all included in the
Grant-Valkaria Airport Master Plan approved in 2007. Our sources
tell us that while AIP funds weren't actually received in 2009, the
airport took the necessary steps to gain compliance with FAA
requirements for funding at the airport. That led to the
Commission's approval last September to seek out an airport
engineering consultant to oversee the needed safety improvements.
The FAA and FDOT have indicated they support a rejuvenated airport,
and have agreed to carry forward 2009's AIP funding and to combine
them with this year's available funds in order to quickly implement
the safety improvements. The deadline for receiving the money is
March 31, so the County Commission must act now to accept it.
But the improvements aren't universally popular. A small but
vocal group of residents has written a letter to the Commissioners
urging them to reject the AIP money and approve only projects that
can be funded with airport or FDOT funds. They say there is no
urgency, that the other improvements have been have not been
properly presented or discussed, and that they should not be
fast-tracked for approval.