Airport board OKs idea of air show

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Airport Board voted 5-0, Thursday afternoon to approve the Nevada Tourism Board's investigating the possibility of hosting an air show at the Nevada Municipal Airport in 2017.

Mark Mitchell, Nevada assistant city manager, told the board the tourism board needed the airport board's approval of the idea before it could proceed with the concept as discussed at a tourism board meeting several months ago.

"If you approve this the next move is to ask for RFP's from air show promoters," Mitchell said.

"We'd like it to be free the first year," he said, adding that most air shows cost $10 to $15 per person.

Mitchell told the board the city has spent $20,000 for Bushwhacker Days and $20,000 for the cycle races that used to be held here from the city's tax on motel rooms, in response to a question about how much money the city would have available to put into hosting an air show.

The city receives around $90,000 each year from this tax.

Jody Bryson, airport manager, said the last air show here was held in 1990 and that it lost a lot of money.

In other business:

Randy Marti, administrative service director told the board the engineering for the renovation of the fuel farm at the airport has been completed and that the city would like to see the construction phase of the project done in 2017.

"The engineer estimated the cost between $350,000 and $400,000 for the construction phase," Marti said.

The state will cover most of the cost of project with a 90/10 matching grant, he said.

"I will probably submit $40,000 to be on the safe side," he said. "We won't know the exact cost until we solicit bids," he said.

This project was budgeted for construction in the 2015 budget, Marti said, but when the city requested bids, it got none.

Marti also told the board the final payment on the STARR loan that financed the construction of the terminal building at the airport, will be made in 2017.