ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — Small airports are an important part of our community, with the amount of people traveling to and from our area for business.
On Tuesday, Ector County commissioners received more information about the master plan of Odessa-Schlemeyer Field Airport.
The airport is an important asset to Ector County.
"This airport contributes millions of dollars to the community annually as far as economic output, and so again, it is very important, it needs to be taken care of similar to roads," said Mike Dmyterko, president of Coffman Associates, airport consultants.
The commissioners court received a presentation on the future and needs of the airport, something required by the Federal Aviation Administration and Texas Department of Transportation.
"This plan gave the county the opportunity to basically reevaluate where they are and where they want to go in the next 20 years," said Dmyterko.
"Updating us to current regulations, we haven't done it in over 10 years," said Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett. "And making sure we are abiding by all the FAA regulations, because when you take federal money, you have to abide by those federal regulations, or else you don't receive that federal money any longer."
Some possibilities for the future include repaving, adding extra space on runways and adding businesses to Schlemeyer, but right now nothing is set in stone.
"The discussions about how we allocate funding towards the airport will take place over the coming months for this year's budget, and then next year for next year's budget, and so on," said Fawcett.