Positive developments are coming to Coulter Airfield.
Bryan’s Economic Development Director Kevin Russell says City Council just approved a resolution securing funding so that Bryan can partner with Tx-DOT’s aviation division in order to install new runway lights.
Russel says the light system will be expensive at $633,000, but it’s a good deal, because the city will only have to pay ten percent and Tx-DOT will pay the remainder.
He says the new up-to-date lighting system should eventually save the city in utility costs.
Russell says lightning blew out the regulator and transformers of the old light system earlier this year, and because the system was more than twenty years old, replacement parts were no longer being manufactured.
Meanwhile, the city is also reviewing its ground leases at the airfield in order to possibly attract private development.
Russell says they want to encourage aircraft owners who are looking for a place to house their craft in private hangars.
As for further expansion, he says there are some limitations because of subdivisions in the area and aviation easements.
Russel says he is therefore unsure of how much community support an expansion might receive, but he says there is a lot of opportunity at Coulter Field as it sits today.
Kevin Russell discusses Coulter Field developments with WTAW’s Scott Delucia