Commissioners say FAA-funded taxiway repairs are underway; runway extension is long-term plan

A resident asked when Portage County's runway would be lengthened to handle corporate jets. Commissioners said the county has prioritized resurfacing and relocating Taxiway A and repairing the North Taxiway as the immediate safety and economic-development need. Commissioner Sabrina Christian Bennett said the taxiway project cost about $3 million and received FAA funding with a modest local match.

Bennett said a runway extension is in the master or comprehensive plan but would require several years and significant funding; it would be sized for larger corporate aircraft rather than very large commercial jets. "That project was like 3,000,000. And so we got, all the money from the FAA except like a 182,000 match funds," she said, adding airport staff and the airport director support planning work on extension options.