MT airport to receive additional hangers

New hangers will soon be seen at the Marked Tree municipal airport. (Democrat Tribune photo/Dan Brawner)

"We're getting eight to ten new hangers," said mayor Dixon Chandler when asked about the progress on updating the Marked Tree Municipal Airport. "The number of hangers would be according to (what construction facility) I use and how much we want."

Chandler said he could go with an engineering group for the work or bid it out himself in hopes of saving money.

"We could use a pre-fab company," continued Chandler. "They would just bring them in and put them up."

The mayor said he could probably save the city as much as $50,000 if the buildings were just bought in this way.

"They will work it any way we want to," he said. "They'll come in and put them up on our slab, or they will just send them to us and we can assemble them ourselves."

A grant of $400,000 was allocated for the construction with the city having to match $100,000 or 20% of the total cost.

"I've already rented the hanger space which will cover the 20 percent," said Chandler. "It'll take about three years to get our money back, but it's worth it. The council voted to do it and we've gone forward on it."

The Marked Tree Municipal Airport is the only such facility in Poinsett County.

The airport has received additional grant funding in the past several years, all of which did not require matching funds from the city. The funds were used to extend the runway, add new lighting and make other necessary repairs and improvements.