The Stafford Regional Airport plans to begin construction on a 1,000-foot extension to its already existing 5,000-foot by 100-foot paved runway in early or mid-September.
This project has been in the works since 2007, and the Stafford Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) opened bids for a contract on June 9. The winning bidder was Fredericksburg based Henderson Construction Company, which made a bid of just over $3.4 million for the project.
After the bid was accepted, the airport filed an application for a grant with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with a deadline for submission of June 15. That airport met the deadline and the authority was informed by the FAA that they would receive a grant budget of $5.7 million.
The airport obtained permits from both the FAA and the Virginia Department of Aviation that cost $1.3 million and $112,000, respectively for this extension. The SRAA spent $28,000 on the design of the extension.
The airport also had to get mitigation credits due to nearby wetlands and streams that could be affected by the construction. Two credits were purchased from local wetland and stream mitigation banks for $221,100, valued at $110,000 per credit.
The airport also spent $369,000 on mitigation for stream impacts that will be purchased through the Nature Conservancy Trust Fund.
SRAA member Hank Scharpenberg has been on the board since 2007 and was a huge force in pushing for this runway extension.
“By having this extension we can attract different planes to the airport, specifically more business flights that could base their planes here in Stafford which means more revenue for the airport in terms of hanger fees and fuel sales. This would also mean more tax revenue for Stafford County and the possibility to attract more businesses to the area,” Sharpenberg said.
“The reason why we can’t bring them here without the extension is insurance concerns from those who own the planes. The insurance write-ups have language dictates how much fuel those planes can have in their tanks based on the length of the runway. The longer the runway the more likely those planes can fly out of here with full tanks to fly cross-country or across the Atlantic.
This could potentially lead to more services down the road such as commuter flights and having our own onsite emergency fire squad.”
