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Airport to receive $1M grant

ESCANABA — Delta County Airport is set to receive $1 million in federal grant funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). While the airport is still working to determine exactly what the money can be used for, Airport Manager Andrea Nummilien said it should be very helpful.

“We are waiting for final word from the federal government and the state of Michigan to decide how this money can be spent, but broadly speaking it is meant to offset costs for operations and projects,” she said.

Specific decisions on how the funding will be utilized will be made at a later date.

“When we receive more guidance on this grant, Delta County will evaluate how to allocate the funds,” Nummilien said.

According to Nummilien, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the airport in a number of ways. For example, progress on airport improvement projects has slowed down significantly.

“This happened to be the year that the Delta County Airport was given discretionary funds,” she said.

With these funds, which were included in the airport’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant for 2020, the airport had planned to start a $7 million runway project this year and complete it in 2021. Delta County is expected to match a percentage of the funding.

Nummilien is hoping to use the airport’s CARES Act funding to help cover Delta County’s financial commitment to the runway project.

“It would ease the burden on the county,” she said.

The pandemic has also affected hours for Delta County Airport crews and passenger usage of the airport. “Enplanements are down 96 percent nationwide right now,” Nummilien said.

Delta County Airport’s FAA grant funding is partially tied to enplanement numbers. Since that funding is usually what is used for projects, Nummilien said the CARES Act funding will help in this regard, as well.

Across Michigan, $256 million in grant funding has been secured for more than 90 airports through the CARES Act. Along with $1 million for the Delta County Airport, the funding includes $1 million for Ford Airport in Iron Mountain and $30,000 for Menominee Regional Airport.

In a statement, State Rep. Beau LaFave thanked Michigan’s congressional delegation for its work related to the CARES Act. “The economic standstill our area of the state has been brought to impacts a broad range of sectors, and I appreciate Michigan’s congressional delegation working hard to protect U.P. infrastructure and workers,” he said.

LaFave also touched on the importance of the support the CARES Act will provide to airports. “The air travel industry has been particularly hard hit by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and it’s more than just the grounded planes that news channels show sitting parked on runways. Airports are job providers, and this unprecedented moment has upended these livelihoods along with many others. These hard-working people, and our critical infrastructure, need resources to stay on their feet and resume activity when this challenge is no longer facing us, but behind us,” he said.

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