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.

FMI: http://www.brevardcounty.us/