Fort Scott Airport is in the design stage of expanding its runway.

The FS Airport Advisory  Board met Jan. 24 for an update from Kenny Howard, the airport manager.

“We signed a contract for the design of the (runway expansion) project,” Howard told the board. “That part of the project should be done in April.”

The runway expansion designer is Olsson Associates, Lincoln, Nebraska.

“It will be paid for by the city and private donations,” Howard told fortscott.biz.

The design plan will estimate the cost of the runway expansion project, he said.

Once the cost is projected, grants will be sought to fund the expansion project, Howard said.

The current length of the airport runway is 4,400 feet, the proposed runway expansion would increase that to 6,150 feet, according to Howard.

In addition, the city has applied for a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to rehabilitate the runway lights, Howard said. The estimated cost of that project is $290,000.

Howard said approximately 600 aircraft took off and landed at the facility last year.

Pilots file and cancel their flights using their cell phones, he said.

Most air traffic at the facility is between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A property owner near the airport, Kenneth Merriman, told the board “the noise decibel is pretty bad over my house.”

Merriman lives one mile south of the airport.

Howard said a noise analysis done on the airport shows the noise is staying on the airport property.

“People that have concerns can come out and talk to me,” Howard told Merriman. He said 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the best time to reach him at the airport.