Airport authority moves forward with Holmes County Airport improvements

As 2025 comes to an end, the Holmes County Commissioners took steps to financially support the building of a new hangar and partial terminal at the Holmes County Airport.

Having met earlier with officials from the Holmes County Airport Authority, the commissioners passed a resolution Monday, Dec. 29 approving the evaluation committee’s recommendation of the best value firm and authorized Commissioner Joe Miller, commissioner chair, to enter into negotiations and contracts with Weaver Commercial Contractors Inc. on the upcoming airport projects.

It’s a design-build project in which the commissioners put out a bid and opted to obtain the services of Weaver Commercial Contractors Inc.

“We’re now in the approving the engineering side of the design-build process,” Commissioner Dave Hall said. “Our committee came to an agreement that this will be a good company to partner into contract with.”

Weaver Commercial Contractors Inc. is a Dalton-based company with which Miller said the commissioners and review committee were very impressed.

The estimated cost of the design work is $220,000, an amount expected to create blueprint designs for both the large hangar and a partial design on the terminal. The hope is the design work will be completed by April 2026.

“The design is an important part of the process,” Hall said. “Then we will eventually see what funds the airport can go after to finish off with FAA and ODOT money for airports, plus Appalachia money. We will give a base amount (of funding) to get it done.”

The commissioners have aggressively talked about the importance of upgrading the airport facilities as continued growth of Holmes County will rely more heavily on welcoming more flights into the county.

“This will really be an improvement out there,” Miller said. “Right now they’ve got a lot of people who won’t bring airplanes in because there is no place to store them. If you invest in a $20 million jet, you don’t want them sitting out in the weather.”

He said there also is nowhere to welcome those flying in, and most airports in surrounding counties offer more enticing landing areas for those flying small airplanes and jets.

He said this will change that dramatically, and the Holmes County Airport will become a much more desirable destination in welcoming incoming flights.

Hall said the investment being made also will serve as an income revenue source for the airport authority by renting out hangar space for individuals to store planes.

“This is a major investment that brings dollars back into their budget,” Hall said.

The commissioners have committed $3 million toward the project, with the source of that funding coming mainly from sales tax.

“After that, it’s (the airport authority’s) baby,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a major upgrade.”

Miller said the airport runways are really nice, and soon the hangar and terminal will capably match that quality.

Hall said aside from the aesthetic value the new project will provide, one other concern for the county was with the liability insurance that comes with insuring buildings that are as old as the current ones at the airport.

“We had to do something for our liability insurance,” Hall said. “The buildings were so old you never know when they would simply say we aren’t going to insure you anymore.”

While the initial discussion centered around possibly building a two-story terminal, the decision was made to simplify it to a single-floor plan.

“We wanted to make it practical,” Miller said.

In other county news, the commissioners authorized temporary expenditures for 2026, something that takes place each year and provides funding for the earliest days of the new year when the budget has yet to be officially created and authorized.

In the resolution the commissioners authorized 25% of each budget-appropriated line item until the 2026 yearly budget appropriations can be officially authorized.