The City of Perry has reached a land acquisition agreement with the final property owners around the Perry Municipal Airport, so the runway extension project can officially take flight.

The two pieces of land were both owned by the Motsick family, and there had been a gap between what the owners wanted and what the Federal Aviation Administration was willing to pay. The divide brought with it the possibility of eminent domain being used, but the two sides reached an administrative settlement before that came to pass. City Administrator Sven Peterson says the two parcels will be purchased for $156,600 and $453,600, which was about 8% above the appraised market value. The FAA found the amounts agreeable and signed off on the sale. With the land acquisition now complete the project can begin in earnest, and Peterson is pleased that eminent domain stayed out of the equation. “We’re very happy that we were able to come to a negotiation with these property owners, so that we didn’t have to go through that whole process. So from here, we’ll be executing some purchase agreements and moving forward with that. Which will allow us to put the dirt work out to bid and get started on that process. So we should be seeing some dirt work start happening yet this summer, and hopefully paving next summer.”

Meanwhile, the new hanger project is completed at the airport, and the fuel depot expansion is scheduled to start in the coming months. To learn more about this and other City of Perry topics, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Peterson.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2020/01/22/lets-talk-dallas-county-1-22-2020-sven-peterson/