Aviation News Item: 09059

27th May 2010

Source: aero-news.net

Georgia Airport Gets One Of Two Remaining Slots In Incentive Program
The FAA has given the OK to Gwinnett County, GA to seek a private buyer and developer for Briscoe Field (KLZU). County officials say they have been approached by multiple potential buyers over the past year.

The authorization was granted through an FAA program that offers incentives to local governments which sell or lease their airports.

According to the FAA, the county must now settle on a buyer and make a final application to the agency. That document has to include a detailed narrative about how the facility would be developed, as well as airport financial statements.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the program is fairly open-ended, in that there are no set deadlines for selecting a buyer or making the application. The FAA is also under no time constraint to make or deny the grant application.

Briscoe, the fifth-busiest airport in the state, has an operating budget of about $1 million. The only private firm to publicly show interest in the airport is a company called Propeller Investments from New York, which says it has a plan to invest millions into KLZU. The company says it would like to extend the 6,000 foot runway by 500 feet and widen it 50 feet to accommodate aircraft as large as a B737. They also claim the plan would create as many as 20,000 jobs.

Gwinnett County Commission Chair Charles Bannister told the paper that the announcement is just a beginning. While he says the county, like most governments, is looking for new sources of revenue, "Any financial benefit for the taxpayers must be balanced with safety and other impacts to our community."

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