Airport Restorations Nearing Completion

Repairs to the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport could be completed by the end of the month.

, both the Paulding County Airport Authority and Industrial Building Authority continue to meet at the Watson Government Complex in Dallas. The entities held their monthly meetings Wednesday.

According to Blake Swafford, PCAA director, who briefed other members of the airport authority on Wednesday, repairs to the terminal building’s roof, windows, and water damage, as well as repairs to fences on the site, are on schedule and expected to wrap up around the end of this month. Additional construction to restore T-hangars crushed by the storm will take longer.

Damage to the airport site was estimated about $1 million, with the terminal building sustaining most of the damage; several million more dollars in damages came in the form of totaled aircraft.

Jeff Beale, general manager for Paulding Jet Center, reported that total fuel sales had dropped over the last two months comparable to what they were when the operation began in 2010, due to the damages sustained from the tornado. Beale said that operations are down about 40 percent from last year at this time.

“A couple of reasons for that, one is our customer base is not there, and another is the cost of gas is the highest it’s been in a really long time,” he said.

Hangars lost in the March storm are expected to be replaced by August. Beale said he expects to have them filled soon afterwards.

The PCAA board during the meeting voted to extend its original 60-day waiver of rent and fuel flowage fees to PJC to help offset downtime of its operations during the rebuild; the extension now runs through June. Fuel flowage fees are a 16-cent tax tacked onto the per-gallon gas price.

Salute America 2012, the Paulding airport’s first air show, is now just five months away, and committee member David Carmichael, who is point man for the October event, said that plans for the show are still on schedule and a website devoted to the show is now accessible at pauldingairshow.net.

“It’s got a lot of information on there. You can volunteer, you can buy tickets, you can become a sponsor online,” Carmichael said.

Officials also announced Wednesday that the new film production studio in Hiram has hired Jimmy Hinerman to be its facilities manager. Hinerman is said to be a veteran of film industry and has worked on numerous films, including Sweet Home Alabama and Forrest Gump. The Hiram soundstage is said to be gearing up for its first client and a 12-week commitment for a feature film project, but no formal announcement regarding that project has yet been made.

, studio officials said a new film about the life of Jackie Robinson .

Swafford also said that a design had been completed for the addition of a restaurant at the terminal building. The next step would have the design coming before county leaders for approval before seeking bids on construction.

IBA

IBA members during their meeting Wednesday morning voted to approve 2.57 acres of property needed to complete the water tower project at the airport site for $48,000. The project is being completed by Crom Construction and is expected be done in about a month.

IBA members also approved the purchase of 120.4 acres at West Memorial Drive associated with its industrial park project for $550,000 from Wells Fargo Bank, but that transaction would be contingent on approval from the city of Dallas.

And the board approved the purchase of two additional units of office space located at the Atlanta Film Studios in Hiram, which were not included in the original purchase. The ownership had since changed hands to current owner PNC Bank, and would be purchased for  $240,000.

Paulding Economic Development Director Jamie Gilbert outlined current prospects of companies that are looking at locating in the county’s newly-established opportunity zone, and others that are already in the zone that are looking to expand their operations. Gilbert said that all businesses in the zone are being contacted regarding opportunities.

Gilbert also said that some aerial photography of the county is being done to aid in marketing local real estate to businesses.

And Gilbert concluded his remarks by saying that interest in Paulding is growing.

“I’ll just say the activity is at a record high right now—I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” he said. “The demand is really building; if we get a couple of these deals done in the next 30 days, I think you’ll see the rest of the year will go exceptionally well for us.”