Posted 8:38 am Tuesday, December 11, 2012
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City council to consider using tax for runway
The Tyler City Council will consider Wednesday authorizing a portion of the city's half-cent sales tax funds to be used to replace a 20-year-old runway at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport.
The council also may consider relocating an Instrument Landing System to the longest airport runway, according to information received from the city on Monday.
Instrument Landing Systems are ground-based instrument-approach systems that provide precision guidance to aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and in many cases, high-intensity lighting to enable a safe landing during certain meteorological conditions, such as low ceilings or reduced visibility, according to information from the city.
The total cost of both the runway improvements and paying for the required environmental study to relocate the Instrument Landing System is $177,754. The Airport Advisory Board is asking for the council to approve that amount for those projects, and for the Half-Cent Sales Tax Board to approve 10 percent of that amount, or $17,754, to come from the city's half-cent sales tax.
In November 1995, voters elected to adopt the One-Half Cent Sales and Use Tax within the City of Tyler for public improvements to include public safety, streets, traffic control, airport, water utilities, parks and drainage for the promotion and development of new and expanded business enterprise as allowed in Texas law, according to the city website.
The engineering department currently manages $13 million dollars in capital projects each year.
The council also will accept a $50,000 gift from the R.W. Fair Foundation to be used toward the building of a new parking garage. The city is hoping to build an estimated $7 million four-story garage.
Preliminary design calls for access off College Avenue and an automated gate system instead of a person. Exterior design is expected to feature buildings that used to be downtown: the Blackstone Hotel, Tyler Commercial College and the old Smith County Courthouse.
Funding for the parking garage could come from half-cent sales tax revenue, public-private partnerships and special utility funds as well as oil and gas revenue, City Engineer Carter Delleney said in November.
The council also may consider relocating an Instrument Landing System to the longest airport runway, according to information received from the city on Monday.
Instrument Landing Systems are ground-based instrument-approach systems that provide precision guidance to aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and in many cases, high-intensity lighting to enable a safe landing during certain meteorological conditions, such as low ceilings or reduced visibility, according to information from the city.
The total cost of both the runway improvements and paying for the required environmental study to relocate the Instrument Landing System is $177,754. The Airport Advisory Board is asking for the council to approve that amount for those projects, and for the Half-Cent Sales Tax Board to approve 10 percent of that amount, or $17,754, to come from the city's half-cent sales tax.
In November 1995, voters elected to adopt the One-Half Cent Sales and Use Tax within the City of Tyler for public improvements to include public safety, streets, traffic control, airport, water utilities, parks and drainage for the promotion and development of new and expanded business enterprise as allowed in Texas law, according to the city website.
The engineering department currently manages $13 million dollars in capital projects each year.
The council also will accept a $50,000 gift from the R.W. Fair Foundation to be used toward the building of a new parking garage. The city is hoping to build an estimated $7 million four-story garage.
Preliminary design calls for access off College Avenue and an automated gate system instead of a person. Exterior design is expected to feature buildings that used to be downtown: the Blackstone Hotel, Tyler Commercial College and the old Smith County Courthouse.
Funding for the parking garage could come from half-cent sales tax revenue, public-private partnerships and special utility funds as well as oil and gas revenue, City Engineer Carter Delleney said in November.
