The 2017-21 city council term officially begins today, and the new council will hold its first meeting Thursday evening.
Councilmen and the mayor will take the oath of office at 1 p.m. today at the Trotter Convention Center. A reception will follow the swearing-in ceremony.
The new council is largely the same as the previous one, with the exception of Fredrick Jackson, who unseated Marty Turner in Ward 4.
At 5 p.m. Thursday, the council will hold its first meeting of the term. During the meeting, councilmen will consider approving a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program grant for drainage improvements at the Columbus-Lowndes County Airport.
City Engineer and Neel-Schaffer Vice President Kevin Stafford said the project will address standing water at the airport and replace some aging pipes.
“This will get water that’s between the taxiway and the runway,” he said. “There’s some standing water in other areas as well, and this will get it out and moving.”
Zach Foster, an engineer with Neel-Schaffer, said the project will address the standing water by clearing out a ditch that’s filled in.
“There’s an old drainage channel that’s silted in over the years,” Foster said. “We’re going to clear the old ditch up and dig it back out so it drains better.”
Airport Manager Wayne Patenaude said the drainage issues are causing the earth to sink, which is causing part of the taxiway to sink as well.
“In the long term, this will keep it from sinking further and having to redo the taxiway,” Patenaude said. “We haven’t had any issues with the sinking at this point. That’s why we’re trying to get this taken care of now, before it does become a hazard. We’re trying to catch it before it does become a safety issue because we’ve got 30 private airplanes here. We get a lot of traffic here, and customers that come in and out while they’re traveling for vacation.”
Beyond that, Patenaude said the standing water is making the grass grow faster, which is drawing wildlife to the airport.
“It’s attracting animals and birds, which as you can imagine, is no good for airplanes,” he said.
The Airport Improvement Program grant is an annually recurring grant the city uses to address needs at the airport.
Foster said last year, the grant was used for concrete pavement repairs on the terminal apron. It was used the year before that to cut trees down as obstruction removal for airplanes.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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