Airport

It's always been an economic development pickle: You can't attract quality companies without an educated work force. But educated workers won't stick around unless quality companies already are in place. At Hagerstown Regional Airport, it looks as if there soon will be a mutual meeting of employers and employees, following the announcement that the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics will open an aviation-technician school in the Top Flight Air Park early next year. When county officials pushed for a $60 million runway expansion a decade ago, the heat was on to produce results to justify the expense.

Airport tightens security By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Security continues to tighten at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Berkeley County official said last week. Officials at the airport recently decided not to allow any vendors on the property when making a delivery, said Berkeley County Commissioner Robert L. Burkhart. When a truck is making a delivery at the airport, security guards unload the truck and transport the items to the base themselves, said Burkhart, who is also a member of the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority.

ANNAPOLIS - Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development has renewed the Hagerstown Regional Airport Enterprise Zone for 10 years, Gov. Robert Ehrlich's office announced Friday.The enterprise zone, which includes the airport, Washington County Business Airpark, Bowman Air Park Center and Top Flight Air Park, allows businesses moving into or expanding within the zone to claim tax credits in exchange for creating new jobs. The airport zone, administered by the Washington County government, encompasses about 700 acres, of which 97 are ready for development.

Firefighters and medics responded to the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Monday night after authorities received a call of an “in-flight emergency” on a plane, a 911 spokeswoman said. It turned out to be a right wing problem and something overheating, the spokeswoman said. The plane, which had 59 people on board, landed safely at the airport after the call was received at 8:14 p.m., the spokeswoman said. No other details were available Monday night.  

The Hagerstown Regional Airport this week received a $1 million federal grant to acquire snow removal equipment and expand an apron for aircraft parking, according to a written statement from U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's office. Bartlett announced the grant award on Monday.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Washington County Planning Commission Monday discussed a preliminary consultation on a residential project opposed by Hagerstown Regional Airport Manager Carolyn Motz. County Associate Planner Jill Baker told the Planning Commission about a July 16 preliminary consultation on a proposal to build 128 single-family homes on 81.33 acres on the west side of Paradise Church Road. The property would be part of a development by Lee Downey called Paradise Heights.

Bartlett praises National Guard troops on visit to airport By DAN KULIN dank@herald-mail.com U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett flew into Hagerstown Regional Airport Thursday morning to thank National Guard troops assigned there, and to share his views on the nation's efforts against terrorism. "I'm here to thank the men, and to thank the families, and to thank their employers," Bartlett, R-Md., said. "We appreciate what you're doing," Bartlett said of the troops.

The Hagerstown Regional Airport is expected to receive $4.62 million in federal grants next month, County Administrator Rodney Shoop said Tuesday. Airport officials were notified that the federal government had discretionary money available for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 and the county could receive the grants if applications were sent, Shoop said. The county commissioners approved the applications Tuesday for a $3.51 million land acquisition grant from the Federal Aviation Administration and a $1.12 million security grant from another federal agency, Shoop said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Four West Virginia airports will share $3.3 million in federal stimulus funding for improvements, including $1.1 million for Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport outside Martinsburg, W.Va. U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and John Rockefeller and U.S. Reps. Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan said Wednesday that the funding comes through the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Improvement Program. Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport's allocation will be used to to build a taxiway, according to a news release.

Tips for holiday travel The American Automobile Association offers the following tips for air travelers dealing with holiday crowds: Travel with photo identification. Reconfirm your flight with the airline 24 to 48 hours prior to departure. Use public transportation or arrange to have someone drive you to the airport to avoid holiday traffic and parking delays. If you must drive to the airport, consider off-airport, park-and-ride arrangements.

A deputy used a stun gun on a man Sunday morning after the man acted wildly when approached by police, who were responding to a call about a suspicious person on Basore Drive, Washington County Sheriff's Office officials said. Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore said the man appeared to have mental issues and deputies didn't know if he was “coming off some drugs.” “Apparently he was going wild,” Mullendore said. A stun gun was used once on the man, who was taken to Meritus Medical Center on an emergency petition for the psychiatric issue, Mullendore said.

Two public hearings before the Washington County Board of Commissioners are set for Tuesday to allow for input into proposed utility rate increases and user fees at Hagerstown Regional Airport. The first hearing, slated to begin at 11 a.m., is for the consideration of water and sewer rate increases, as well as “certain other fees” for fiscal year 2013-14, according to a news release from the county. Per 1,000 gallons used, proposed quarterly increases for residential sewer service are 24 cents and 26 cents for water service.

Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) is one of the many hidden gems of Washington County. It is a primary link between our rural communities and the national transportation system. This link is vital to the growth of our county because it contributes to the economic base by providing and supporting the air transportation needs of the Quad-State area. Plus we cannot ignore the fact that the airport: • Costs very little to the taxpayer to operate. • Plays a key role in workforce development.

Without a staffed air traffic control tower, “there is going to be an incident” involving aircraft at or near Hagerstown Regional Airport, one concerned business owner said Thursday. “I feel very strongly that we are going to have an incident, and it's going to impact people on the ground as well as the crew in the aircraft when that happens,” said Austin Heffernan, owner of Royal Aircraft Services LLC on Airpark Road. Heffernan was one of five airport business officials who spoke Thursday during a news conference at the airport terminal, highlighting the local impact of proposed FAA cuts that would eliminate federal funding to 149 air control towers due to across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

With Federal Aviation Administration funding cuts looming, Washington County officials have decided to seek state funding to help keep open the air-traffic control tower at Hagerstown Regional Airport. The tower is set to close May 5 if other arrangements are not made, according to airport Director Phil Ridenour, who met Tuesday with the Washington County Board of Commissioners to discuss options for keeping the tower operational. Hagerstown's tower was one of 149 federally contracted towers across the country selected for closure as a result of budget cuts necessitated by the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

The indiscriminate budget cuts known as “sequestration” will soon be felt in Maryland and in Washington County. Last week it was announced that air traffic control towers at the Hagerstown and Frederick airports will likely be closed. The flickering signal sent from these closing control towers should be read correctly: We need to change course or prepare for a bumpy landing. The Frederick and Hagerstown airports bring more than $200 million into the local economy and support thousands of jobs.

Businesses at Hagerstown Regional Airport have expressed concerns about the potential closure of the airport's air-traffic control tower as a result of federal budget cuts. At a roundtable meeting Wednesday, organized by Rider Jet Center, representatives of those businesses met to “get a uniform voice” about the situation, Airport Director Phil Ridenour said. According to Ridenour, the four-week phase-out of the 149 federal contract towers is set to begin April 7. Hagerstown's tower is scheduled to close May 5, he said.

An economic impact study released Monday by the Maryland Aviation Administration ranked Hagerstown Regional Airport third out of 35 public-use airports in the state for 2012. Throughout the state, nearly 8,700 jobs can be traced to the aviation industry, creating personal wages of more than $442 million in the past year, the study shows. Additionally, more than $665 million in business revenue was generated, including approximately $222 million as a result of local purchases. Generating more than $109 million in business revenues and supporting a total of 1,338 aviation-related jobs, Hagerstown trailed only Martin State Airport ($224 million)

Standing in front of a newly modified Hawker Beechcraft surveillance plane, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski on Tuesday announced $43 million in federal funding recently approved by Congress devoted to outfitting two additional multirole enforcement aircraft to protect U.S. borders. Mikulski, an advocate for border patrol and protecting American jobs, told about 100 attendees inside the manufacturing facility of Sierra Nevada Corp. at Hagerstown Regional Airport that the money serves to preserve the “passport of the middle class,” helping to protect about 200 jobs in Maryland, including many of the company's 500-plus workforce locally.

The control tower at Hagerstown Regional Airport is included on a list of 149 regional airport control towers that will close because of federal budget cuts known as sequestration, the FAA announced Friday afternoon. “We got the word. We didn't like the word, but we got the word,” Hagerstown Regional Airport Director Phil Ridenour said Friday afternoon. A four-week, phased closure of the 149 control towers will begin on April 7, the FAA said, but Ridenour said it might be a week before he knows where in the order of closings Hagerstown Regional Airport will fall.