By Adam Pack
The Greenbrier County Airport Authority met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 20, to address end of the fiscal year matters including the appointment of a new Airport Director for the Greenbrier Valley Airport.
Before the regular meeting of the Airport Authority, a special meeting was held for a public comment period on upcoming runway renovations. The Airport Authority has been slated for over $8 million in funds for the purpose of runway renovations, including the installation of recessed lights, but the project also includes a proposal to narrow the runway. A large crowd gathered to voice their concerns about the runway, ranging from contractors to aviators to airport employees. Though all those who gave public comment were in support of the airport and its flourishing, all were unanimous in their disapproval of the alterations to the runway as proposed.
The authority then held elections to determine the president, vice president, and secretary for terms July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. The aforementioned positions were filled, respectively, by Mike Rose, Tammy Tincher, and Greg Furlong. After designating office holders, the authority also determined that they will meet on the third Tuesday of every month from July 18, 2023 to June 18, 2024 at 2 p.m. at the Board Office of the State Fair of West Virginia. Placement of the meetings can differ, as determined by the Chairman and in accordance with the authority bylaws.
The authority then moved on to their appointment of a new Airport Director. The authority unanimously appointed Martha Livesay, current Chief Financial Officer and Interim Airport Director, to the position of full time Airport Director. Livesay was heartily welcomed to the position, and members of the authority expressed their excitement at working with her.
John McCalmont was also present to discuss upcoming and ongoing engineering and construction projects at the airport and mentioned that Beta Technologies Inc. is closing in on completing the design phase of new electric vehicle charging stations. The project, McCalmont explained, “Is still in the design phase, and now Beta will want to come back and do some underground scanning just to ensure that their design won’t interfere with any active utilities.”
In her last Airport Director’s report as Interim Director, Livesay also briefly mentioned that students from both West Virginia and Marshall Universities’ Colleges of Business recently visited and shared dinner with herself and her associates at the airport in preparation for the completion of tier hypothetical study on the viability of a shipping hub at Greenbrier Valley. The project, which students presented to their professors at The Greenbrier earlier this month, will be put into written form and presented to Livesay later this month.
Livesay also mentioned that the Greenbrier Valley Theater is interested in staging a play in a unique venue: “I was approached by representatives of GVT who said that they wanted to just mention to the authority the idea of hosting a play in one of our hangars.” She went on to say that she felt that this was a great opportunity for some good publicity. The same and more could be said about Livesay’s final report item, that she and the airport had recently been approached by the West Virginia Air National Guard. The Air National Guard currently conducts their training and drills out of the airport in Charleston. Though, “due to congestion and increased business their, they’re not able to do all that they would like to do, so they’ve asked if it were possible to use our airport,” Livesay said, adding that, “some of the flights coming in we could count, as well as sell fuel to.” Ongoing discussion on these matters will be dealt with more definitively in other or later meetings.
The Greenbrier County Airport Authority meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 2 p.m. in the boardrooms at the state fairgrounds. Interested parties are encouraged to call ahead at 304-645-3961, as times and dates of meetings are subject to change.