Sunday, April 28, 2013
As pilots and business owners feared the worst should the tower at Briscoe Field be shut down, lawmakers worked feverishly to minimize the effects of the sequester on local airfields.
The House has passed a plan that could potentially keep the tower at Briscoe Field and other private airfields open. The FAA announced in March it would eliminate funding for the towers as part of the agency’s required $637 million budget cuts under sequestration. In early April, the closure date was scheduled for June 15. Now, that date may be even further in the future, if at all. According to News-Press.com, the Senate agreed unanimously late Thursday to "allow the Federal Aviation Administration to shift $253 million from other accounts so it can end furloughs and keep towers open at smaller airports nationwide." The House approved the decision Friday. For local pilots and business owners at the field, that’s very good news. “If we …
Monday, April 8, 2013
All 149 air traffic control towers will continue operating until June 15.
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Monday, April 8
(Editor's note: the following is a press release issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.) The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that it will delay the closures of all 149 federal contract air traffic control towers until June 15. Last month, the FAA announced it would eliminate funding for these towers as part of the agency’s required $637 million budget cuts under sequestration. This additional time will allow the agency to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the closure decisions. As part of the tower closure implementation process, the agency continues to consult with airports and operators and review appropriate risk mitigations. Extending the transition …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The FAA announced the date the Gwinnett County airport tower will close due to budget cuts.
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Wednesday, April 3
Sunday, May 5th will be the last day of operations for the control tower at Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, Ga. Earlier in the month, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the Gwinnett County airport tower would be one of the 149 to close starting April 7th. Last week, the FAA released a list of closure dates for the airports. The towers at Kennesaw's McCollum Field and the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany are also set to close on May 5th. Athens-Ben Epps Airport's tower will cease operations on April 21st. The closures are in an attempt to cut $637 million dollars from the FAA's budget. Patch previously reported that even with the tower at Briscoe Field closing, the airport could remain open and operating.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
As promised during their June meeting, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners took the steps to take plans to privatize Briscoe Field off the table.
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Sunday, July 22, 2012
On June 5th, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners voted to reject plans to privatize Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville. They also moved to withdraw the preliminary application to the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to the FAA’s Airport Privatization Pilot Program. Gwinnett County announced Friday they received a letter from the FAA dated July 5th confirming that Briscoe Field has been removed from privatization program. These actions officially end the possibility of privatization and commercialization of Briscoe Field. What do you think about the airport privatization option now officially being withdrawn. Do you think the decision was the right one for the county? Or do you think Gwinnett missed a golden opportunity?
Monday, June 4, 2012
Expressing sadness for all of Gwinnett County In the wake of scandals surrounding Shirley Lasseter's resignation, FGF wants to take the proposal to the ballot box.
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Monday, June 4, 2012
Gwinnett's County Commission is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal from Propellor Investments on the privatization of Briscoe Field. Lacking what many believed would be the deciding third vote due to Lasseter's resignation, many expect the motion will fail with a 2-2 vote. In a press release sent out late on Friday afternoon, Fly Gwinnett Forward is proposing that the "most appropriate way to resolve the issue surrounding Briscoe Field is for the County to release the proposal it received and for a referendum to be placed on the November Ballot by the Board of Commissioners." When discussing the future of Briscoe Field, members of Fly Gwinnett Forward believe that this action would allow citizens the time needed to properly analyze …
After months of controversy, the county's airport issue may finally be settled at the June 5 Gwinnett Commission meeting.
A long-awaited decision on whether to expand and privatize Briscoe Field may come Tuesday, June 5. The agenda for the 10 a.m. work session of the Gwinnett County Commission lists an “approval to reject RP039-11, A Public-Private Partnership for the Lease, Operation and Improvement of Gwinnett County Airport Briscoe Field” under new business. The actual vote would most likely take place during the 2 p.m. business session. Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville is currently a general aviation airport. Gwinnett County began the process of potentially privatizing county-owned Briscoe Field by issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) in December of 2011. Propeller Investments, a company that had previously expressed an interest in bringing commercial …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
We were given a task which we took very seriously, and we were committed to seeing it through.
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Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dear Editor: I had decided to wait until the accusations subsided before sending you this letter; however it seems that a few people have decided to inflame this issue with unsubstantiated accusations for a long time to come. Therefore, I am led to write this letter now. Anyone who attended the Airport Privatization Review Committee meetings would know that we could not have come to consensus on the issue of commercialization. There were attempts on the part of the pro-expansion members to derail our task more than once, starting with the blindside resolution to dissolve this committee back in December of 2011. The pro-expansion members knew of the plan well in advance, and those of us who are against commercialization had no idea until we…
This week the Airport Privatization Citizen Review Committee rejected recommending that Gwinnett's airport should add commercial passenger service.
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Thursday, May 3, 2012
The fate of Briscoe Field is still up in the air. The Airport Privatization Citizen Review Committee which was set up by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to study the feasibilty of allowing a private company to run the county-owned facility, voted 6-0 (with five committee members abstaining) to keep the facility as a general aviation airport. The proposal to privatize the airport has been hotly debated. Those favoring the proposal felt that allowing commercial flights at Briscoe Field would bring revenue and jobs to the county. But home owners living nearby oppose the move claiming the increased noise, air and automobile traffic would affect their quality of life - and their home values. What do you think of this issue? Are you …
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The group previously has favored commercial flights. No details of the proposal are known at this time.
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
There's only one choice for Gwinnett County Commissioners to make if Briscoe Field is to be privatized: Propeller Airports Briscoe Field, Inc. That group was the only one to respond to the county's Request For Proposals by Wednesday's deadline. The RFP was issued in December after much discussion by commissioners and public discourse that still continues. No details of the proposal are available; it is being evaluated, according to county spokesperson Joe Sorenson. There also is no known timetable for making a decision. However, before the RFP process began, Propeller had said that it wanted to begin commercial passenger flights at the county-owned airport. District 1 Commissioner Shirley Lasseter, whose district includes Suwanee, thinks a…
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Conference call may happen soon between county officials and consultants.
The wheels are slowly turning toward Request for Proposals (RFP) for possible privatization of the Gwinnett County-owned airport in Lawrenceville. Kim Conroy, acting transportation director, said Tuesday that county officials hope to have a conference call next Tuesday (Nov. 22) with consultants IMG that were hired to assist in the RFP process. Gwinnett commissioners voted in October to effectively restart the process of potentially selling or leasing Briscoe Field. The goal would be to improve the airport's financial performance by utilizing private operators. Currently, the airport is operated by the county's Transportation Department. An airport citizens review panel also has had one meeting and will participate in an oversight role. …
Richard T
4:03 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
In a plane crash, the pilot is always the first to arrive at the crash site. No matter how bad the crash is, the controller always has the option of stopping somewhere for a beer on the way home. more ›