Bolding joins ETRA airport development board

Kilgore’s Lloyd Bolding has joined the East Texas Regional Airport Economic Development Board.

Bolding’s appointment was confirmed Monday by Gregg County Commissioners.

Bolding is replacing one of two board members – Stephen McDaniel and Bill Taylor – who resigned this year to dedicate more time to their businesses.

Confirmation of a second proposed appointee, Rex Scoggin, was delayed until a future meeting.

“Mr. Scoggin is new to the commissioners court and we wanted the have the opportunity to know more about him before we approved the appointment,” County Judge Bill Stoudt said.

In other business, the commission approved the Scope of Services and cost summary provided by Coffman Associated for the development of the Airport Master Plan Update.

Virginia Hall, East Texas Regional Airport (ETRA) manager, said the comprehensive study will take about a year t complete. Funding for the study came from a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant that provides 95 percent of the cost of the $285,450 project.

“The county is responsible for five percent of the cost,” she said.

Coffman Associates, a Kansas City-based firm, will be working with KSA Engineering on a portion of the study.

“Since we use KSA for most of the work at the airport, they will be assisting Coffman Associates with parts of the study,” Hall said.

She said the comprehensive study will include a review of all the airport facilities -buildings, runways, hangers, etc.

“The study will include information pertaining to both airline and general aviation traffic and will provide us with a 20year forecast as to what we need to do to keep up with demand,” Hall said.