Airport's future topic of city public hearing

By Staff
Leada DeVaney, Hartselle Enquirer
The public will soon get its say on a proposal to relocate Hartselle's airport.
A public meeting on what city officials call the "justification and site selection process," for the relocation of the airport is planned for April 5 at 6 p.m. The public hearing will be held in the City Hall Auditorium.
The program will include an audiovisual presentation by a representative of an engineering consulting firm and will include a question and answer session.
The public hearing was arranged following months of questions about the future of Hartselle's Rountree Field.
Residents of Tanner Heights and other neighborhoods in the area have complained for years about the airport, saying it hurts their property values. Recently, a group of residents approached the council about the possibility of moving the airport. This came on the heels of a plan to construct 16 new private hangars at the airport. The cost of the construction would be $600,000-700,000 and would be paid by airport manager Stoney Powell. Powell's company, Blackstone Rotorcraft, will construct and maintain the hangars and pay for all insurance and utilities. According to the lease, the city will take over the hangars at the end of a 30 year lease.
According to Mayor Clif Knight, a study on relocating the airport would cost between $180,000 and $290,000.