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Zephyrhills airport adds hangars to lower debt
By MOLLY MOORHEAD ZEPHYRHILLS -- City Council members have been looking for ways for Zephyrhills Municipal Airport to pay down its $400,000 debt. Monday night, they made their move, approving funding for two more T-hangars. Combined with the construction of two other T-hangers that the council already has approved, the airport will be doubling to eight the number of covered airplane storage structures that it rents out. Construction of the four hangars will cost about $1.14-million, but a Florida Department of Transportation grant will cover 80 percent of that. The city will pay about $228,000 for the four new T-hangars. Once they're completed and rented out, the hangars could generate about $42,000 in annual revenue, according to the city's financial analysis. And with the airport $400,000 in the red, it's those dollars that council members had in mind when approving the project. "I would think that if the airport's ever going to get out of debt, it's going to be by renting hangars and making some money," said council President Clyde Bracknell. During this tight budget year, council members were hesitant to commit to such an expensive project, but the state grant warrants the expenditure, Bracknell said. "We've definitely got to have some money coming in," he said. "And this is 80-20. You can't beat that." The airport rents hangar space for $175 a month. It's considering raising the rate to $225 a month, which would mean even more revenue. But council members appeared satisfied with the potential to make money at the current rate. "Even without the increase, you can see that there's a return on your money," council member Liz Geiger said. Carr Construction Services of Zephyrhills, which won the contract for the first two hangars, will build all four hangars. The city will finance the project with a line of credit and repay the balance when it is reimbursed with the grant money. In other council news Monday night: Council members accepted a $2.41-million bid from Princeton Construction of Plant City to build the new police station. Princeton, run by Zephyrhills High School graduate Tom McLeod, submitted the third-lowest bid on the project. But the two low bids, Cadstruct Construction of Clearwater and Ervin Bishop Construction of Land O'Lakes, withdrew their offers, citing mathematical errors. The two companies asked that their bid bonds, about $100,000 each, not be forfeited. Cadstruct paid the city $20,000 to keep from losing its bond. Council members instructed City Attorney Tom McAlvanah to ask Ervin Bishop for $12,000, the difference of its bid from Princeton's. Princeton probably will begin construction within a few weeks at the site off Eighth Avenue near the post office. Also, council members rejected a request from the airport for reimbursement of $80,000 in losses incurred from Zephyrhills Golf Course, which is located on airport property. The airport had asked to be reimbursed for money the golf course lost over two years when two different managers faulted on lease payments and let the course deteriorate. But council members rejected the request unanimously. "I think we've given them quite a bit of money already," Bracknell said. Lastly, council members canceled their Dec. 23 meeting.
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