Ten rural Nevada airports are scheduled to receive a package of grant money totaling a total of $4.3 million.
In a press release, Senator Harry Reid announced the grant awards.
Lincoln County Airport in Panaca is one of five to receive between $100,000 to $200,000.? The others are Fallon, Winnemucca, Tonopah, and Jackpot.
The largest of the grants, about $1.4 million, goes to Carson City. Others receiving grant monies are Beatty, Yerington, Silver Springs, and Gabbs
Lincoln County Airport Authority chairman Ed Higbee said most of the money will be used for runway rehab. ?It?s got a bunch of cracks and grass growing in spots. It?s an older dried out airport, so that is what the money will most likely be used for.?
But in 2015, Higbee said they plan to apply for an FAA grant for a fuel farm. ?But when you do that, your grants are pretty much over for a while, because the Federal Aviation Administration believe you have probably pretty much finished your airport.?
More grants can be applied for in years to come to continue the Alamo Airport and working toward getting a fuel farm there. We have a plan for both airports, moving along in a systematic approach,? he said.
?What our problem here is,? Higbee noted, ?is we have no airplane fuel (at Panaca or Alamo). There are a lot of people, pilots tell us, that would rather fly to Panaca and fuel up than have to go on to Cedar City and fuel up, but as we don?t have any fuel, they have to go to Cedar.?