Airport’s future up in the air

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September 14, 2009

By MIKE JAMES — The Independent The Daily Independent Mon Sep 14, 2009, 11:58 PM EDT

OLIVE HILL — Two months after it closed, Sellers Field may never reopen.

“Aviation officials hold little hope the airport can reopen due to extensive safety concerns,” said Mark Brown, a spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The state closed the airport citing issues with the condition of the 2,500-foot runway, lack of secure fencing and obstructions to incoming and departing aircraft.

State officials said it would cost more than $9 million to bring the hilltop field up to acceptable conditions, said airport board chairman Gayle Smith. That figure included $850,000 for a terminal, $1.75 million for an access road and $1.75 million to buy additional land around the field at about $15,000 per acre, he said.

Most of the expenditures would have been absurd, Smith believes. The field doesn’t need a terminal at all, there already is a blacktop road to the entrance and $1,500 per acre would be considered top dollar for rural property in Carter County, he said.

The field is owned by the city of Olive Hill, which spends about $6,000 per year to keep it mowed and maintained, Smith said.

About $500,000 would be enough to bring the field up to par, he said. The city had asked for federal stimulus money for some maintenance but didn’t get it.

Earlier this year there were three planes based at the airport. Since then one of the pilots has died, Smith said.

There has been some talk of finding a buyer and making the field private, but that would forever shut down any hope of federal funding, Smith said.

When it was closed, officials painted large yellow Xs at the end of the runway to warn pilots not to use it.

However, Smith said he believes it does get an occasional takeoff and landing. He has seen at least one plane himself.

Locals bemoaned the closure in part because they believe the field, the only one in Carter County, could be important in an emergency. A pilot with a malfunctioning engine, for instance, might be able to put down there if unable to make it to another airport. Or planes could fly to Sellers Field in the event of a disaster.

Smith believes that is still the case. “It’s still there if anyone needed it for emergency purposes. By God, I’d use it,” he said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.

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