Advancement of the Perry Municipal Airport continues to progress, including the recently completed hangar project, and the upcoming fuel station expansion. One project that is still in a bit of a holding pattern is the runway extension, though there was some ground gained recently.

The City Council approved an agreement with a property owner, acquiring 39 acres from Julie Ann and Paul Larsen for $405,000. City Administrator Sven Peterson says the amount was above the fair market value for the property, but it was close enough that the Federal Aviation Administration approved the price. He says the FAA is paying for 90% of the overall project cost, including land acquisition, so they’re largely in charge of setting the prices the City can accept. Peterson says he’s glad they reached an agreement with the property owners, keeping things civil in the process. “We were able to reach an administrative settlement with one of the property owners out there. This is one of the larger pieces that we’re dealing with, so it was nice to get that taken care of. And (we) reached an agreement with that landowner, so that we’re able to continue to move forward with our project.”

Peterson says there’s still two more parcels that remain to be purchased in order to allow the runway extension to move forward. He’s hopeful they’re able to come to similar settlements and avoid having to use eminent domain. To learn more about this and other topics involving the City of Perry, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Peterson.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/12/17/lets-talk-dallas-county-12-17-2019-sven-peterson/