Officials with Bradford Regional Airport should know which air
carrier will be servicing the facility within the next month.
Meanwhile, the final paperwork on the long-anticipated Pennsylvania
Army National Guard armory should be completed in early March.

Both are crucial to the airport – one represents the future of
air service, while the other could provide a linchpin to future
economic growth.

“Things are coming together and moving in the right direction,”
Airport Director Tom Frungillo said Wednesday during a meeting of
the Bradford Airport Authority.

Frungillo said he and Airport Advisory Committee Chairman Mike
Glesk traveled to Washington Feb. 2 to meet with members of the
U.S. Department of Transportation about the air service
situation.

Colgan Air Inc., currently services the airport but is waiting
word from the DOT regarding its attempt to renegotiate a two-year
contract under the federal Essential Air Service program, of which
the airport has been trying to get out from under.

“Dennis DeVany (of DOT) said we had one of the best proposal
letters they have ever seen,” Frungillo said, adding officials
stressed the importance of changing hubs from Pittsburgh to
Washington-Dulles International Airport.

In addition to Colgan, RegionsAir of Nashville, Tenn., has also
applied with the DOT to provide service to Bradford Regional; the
fledgling RegionsAir would use Cleveland as its hub city.

Airport officials prefer the Washington connection, in large
part because of the amount of international destinations for
business and leisure travelers. The airport has joint service for
the airline with nearby Jamestown, N.Y.

“Don’t they (DOT) understand we could get out of debt doing
this?” authority member John Satterwhite questioned.

In response, Frungillo said “I think they are really going to
look at it. While they (DOT) didn’t show us their cards, money is a
major concern for them.” He added the DOT will be going back and
talking to both carriers again before making a decision, which
could officially arrive before the end of the month.

As it stands, the combined federal subsidy under EAS for
Bradford and Jamestown is set at $1,003,874 per year. Colgan –
which cited a hike in fuel costs in arriving at its decision to
renegotiate – has a contract through Oct. 31 of this year.

Making matters worse is a potential cut in the EAS program by
Congress in President Bush’s proposed 2007 federal budget.

“There is nothing more we can possibly do at this point,”
Frungillo said.

Meanwhile, Frungillo said he hopes airport officials will be
able to complete the agreement of sale for the land the armory will
be located on by its March 8 meeting.

The project currently sits in the Federal Register until March
2.

“The agreement of sale has been approved by the Department of
General Services and the Department of Veterans and Legal Affairs,”
Frungillo said. “I’ll be glad when we can put our signature on the
dotted line and move forward on this.”

When approved, the armory will be located on land near the
airport’s access road. Lafayette Township has already approved a
request for a subdivision on the property.

With the drawn-out process in bringing the armory to the airport
nearly completed, Frungillo said he would like to see the process
of approving land transactions through the Federal Aviation
Administration sped up.

Both Frungillo and airport engineer Ed Natusi will be meeting
with the FAA and National Guard officials during a March 1 meeting
in Hershey.

“This has been a long process (armory),” Frungillo said. “I
still feel the next area of development will be along the access
road. We need to be able to tell potential developers that they
won’t be waiting forever to get a project under way.”

Frungillo said the airport will also be working with the
county’s new economic development department in an attempt to lure
people to that area.

In other news, Natusi said the installation of the water and
sewer line extension to the airport has been completed.

Natusi said all that remains of the project is to put the water
tank in place and install a pump station. The water tank should be
set by the end of March, while the pump station work will start
next week. Natusi said the entire scope of the project should be
completed by May 1.

“(Chivers Construction) has made significant progress during the
last month,” Natusi said.

When completed, nearly 40 township residences will be able to
hook onto the water system for municipal service.