Knox City Council members passed the Starke County Comprehensive Airport Zoning Ordinance when members met Tuesday night.
When the ordinance was presented to council members on first reading earlier this month, Councilman and Plan Commission member Don Kring noted that it was created was to establish some basic zoning rules so that surrounding structures will not interfere with flight patterns.
The Airport’s Legal Representative Charlie Weaver explained that no existing areas or structures will be impacted by this ordinance and added that having it in place will help the airport secure more grant funding in the future.
As previously reported, the Starke County Airport was awarded at $600,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to extend their runway. Weaver mentioned that it will be extended to 5,001 feet and that project should be completed by the end of the month.
In addition to the runway extension project, officials are also making an effort to convert all lights at the airport to LED. Weaver said so far, all runway and taxiway lights have been converted and there are plans to convert others around the airport.
He explained, “Now they’re converting lights at the end of the runway to identify where the runway is and also lights that kind of give you the slope indicator, those will all be LEDs”
He continued, “They’re converting the main hanger within the next couple of weeks to LEDs which will really assist with things.”
On top of that, Weaver stated that next week, Airport officials will be meeting with representatives from the FAA and INDOT to discuss potential funding options for a runway resurfacing project.
Looking ahead, the Airport board has been discussing the possibility of enhancing the quality of existing hangers and checking into different types to add since they’re currently all filled up.
Weaver noted that over the last two years, approximately $1.2 million in federal grant funds have been awarded to the Starke County Airport.
He mentioned the reason the airport has been able to receive that much funding is because have been willing to take the initiative and make improvements themselves.
