New venture takes big step at Blairsville Airport

The total amount of land to be leased is 120-by-120 feet, and the lease will cost the company $4,429.16 per year based on a “going rate” for hangar space as determined via research by the volunteer Blairsville Airport Advisory Board.

County residents Zach Willson and Pat Miceli are behind the new venture, and Willson attended the meeting last week, which essentially served as the green-light to proceed with construction thanks to the ground lease.

A construction timeline is unknown at this point because the airport will be undergoing a massive rehabilitation project next year to level the runway.

“The pavement will be pulled up, and it will be re-graded,” Airport Assistant Manager Seth Dyer said. “Right now, from one end of the runway to the other, (airplanes) can’t see each other.

“So, the (Georgia Department of Transportation) is going to come in with a contractor; they’re going to raise one end up, level out the middle that’s got a hump in it, and fix the dip on the other end.

“At our approach end, we have what’s called a displaced threshold of nearly 1,000 feet, which effectively shortens the runway by 1,000 feet. Even though there’s that pavement there, you’re not supposed to go wheels down until that displaced threshold.

“This project will get rid of that, and we’ll have a full 5,000-foot runway. So, we’ll get an extension of the landing capability of the runway without having to add any longer pavement to it.”

Appalachian Mountain Aviation will continue to weigh its options for starting construction once the runway project timeline is better defined, and when all is said and done, the company will bring a major upgrade in capabilities to the local airport.

Willson comes to the project with extensive experience, having served for years as the maintenance director for a big flight training facility owned by Miceli’s son in St. Augustine, Florida.

As fate would have it, both Willson and Miceli ended up moving to Blairsville several years ago, and they reconnected organically once here.

The friends continued to bond over airplanes, and after visiting the local airport, Willson noticed the lack of businesses there. The idea for the company took off last summer, and now, it’s just a matter of time before the airport hosts the full offerings of Appalachian Mountain Aviation.

“I’m used to going out to the airport and there being a bunch of people and hangars open, and there’s really nothing here,” Willson said. “So, I just thought it would be a great opportunity to get something going.”

Dyer said there are some freelance flight instructors who operate at the Blairsville Airport but that “this will be the first business based at the airport.”

“We feel that it will help the airport as a whole bringing in traffic, and the traffic that does come in will have the opportunity and the ability to have their planes serviced here,” Dyer said. “So, that’s money that gets brought into Blairsville and Union County.”

Added Dyer, “Yes, it’s a municipal airport, but it is a regional hub for North Georgia. It serves Blue Ridge, it serves Hiawassee – this area gets served by that.

“We have a number (we report to City Council every month) where we sell this much (fuel) and we do this much business at the airport, but the true economic impact is much further and much, much higher.

“When you talk about people coming in and spending a week, spending money at businesses and renting Airbnbs, or whether they come in and buy property and build a business here, even – we see that a lot. So, this (new business) is huge for this community.

“There’s guys that have moved here and have been involved with much bigger airports in the state of Georgia, and I heard one of them say the other day that, once this runway project is done and this business is open, this will be the premier airport north of Atlanta.”

Dyer also said the airport is working with the Experimental Aircraft Association Blairsville Chapter 1211, Appalachian Mountain Aviation and Union County Schools toward the possibility of creating aviation pathways for local students to train as aircraft mechanics, engineers, designers, pilots, etc.

In other Jan. 6 meeting business, the council approved another lease with Appalachian Mountain Aviation for the “Old Terminal Building” on the south side of the airport.

The lease comes at no cost, but the building is in disrepair, so the company will be renovating it while utilizing the space as an office and classroom setting before turning it back over to the city in good working order after four years.

Having access to the Old Terminal Building gives the company a base of operations for classroom training to begin “soon,” said Willson, who added that the actual flight aspect of the training can take place at other nearby airports until their local hangar can be built.

“Two later hangars to be built” came up in the meeting during a discussion of the company’s business proposal, at which time City Attorney Marvin Harkins announced the city’s obligation to pave the area in front of the business.

“What we did was cut the area to be paved in half,” Harkins said. “So, since those other hangars would be built in the future, let’s not pave them now. That’s halving the cost, basically, of that expense to the city.”

To pave the entire stretch in front of the initial hangar and two proposed hangars is currently estimated at about $600,000, so paving only in front of the first hangar for which the company has received a ground lease will cost the city about $300,000.

The city will be obligated to complete the paving within 120 days of the 100-by-100 hangar finishing construction, Harkins said.