Habersham County Airport officials are exploring several grant and loan opportunities to fund the T-hangar project with the clock ticking on bids that were placed in 2022.
Contracts were all set to make the project happen for $3.4 million, which was going to be paid out of Habersham County’s American Rescue Plan funds. But Habersham Medical Center needed that money more urgently, and the county was forced to find other funding mechanisms to complete the project.
Airport Manager Will Regan told the Airport Commission on Monday that he met with county grant writer Lauren Long and has several irons in the fire with OneGeorgia and Georgia Rural Investment, along with a possible USDA loan. The latter has an application process that takes between 9 and 24 months, though, which would certainly push the project into another bid cycle.
As it stands, the county has asked the current bidders to extend their offers another 60 days, the second time they have asked for more time to find the money. Regan said Tuesday that he was waiting to hear an answer back from Lead Edge Consultants, who are assisting with the arrangement.
“The likelihood of them bidding again is not great,” Regan said regarding the whole project going back out to RFP from scratch.
County CFO Tim Sims said an added challenge is that the funding has to meet certain FAA requirements. “You can’t just get a regular bank loan,” Sims noted.
“We don’t want to see another year go by on this,” Airport Commission Chairman Ken Schubring said. “We have been trying to do this for 4-5 years.”