El Paso County is set to break ground on an airport hangar that was at the center of a disputed federal grant in May. (credit: KFOX14/CBS4)
FABENS, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The Fabens Airport is undergoing significant changes with two major projects in the works, but financial challenges are halting the progress on one of them.
The construction of three box hangars, which will house multiple services like classrooms, research and development space, is nearly halfway complete after being funded by a $5 million federal grant.
However, the T-Hangar project, which would house smaller, privately owned aircraft, is on hold because it is facing a $12 million budget shortfall. The county initially allocated $4 million for the project, but the sole bid received estimated the cost at $16 million.
Michael McElroy, El Paso County Director of Planning and Development, explained the reason for the difference, "The hanger manufacturers will typically do these in lots of 20 or more, and so to provide the four that we needed is too small for an order."
At Monday's County Commissioner's meeting, an item was presented to discuss the authorization of additional funding to meet the shortfall. However, no action was taken.
Commissioner Sergio Coronado expressed support for the project but acknowledged the funding challenges.
"Regarding the Fabens Airport T-Hangar Project, while I am supportive of the project, at this time I do not see an opportunity to fund it this year. We will continue to investigate alternative funding options, outside of our fund balance, for this project and others," Coronado said in a statement.
Commissioner Iliana Holguin agreed and said the best option is to look for alternatives to push the project forward.
"We're going to go out and look for grants, look out for other potential ways to try to fund these T-Hangars because they're still going to be very important to the success of the airport in the future," she said.
Holguin added that if the $12 million is not found, then the money that was already set aside for the project might be allocated somewhere else.
"If it seems that we're not going to be able to find additional funding for the T-Hangar project anytime soon, then we don't necessarily want to keep other funding that might be available for other projects just kind of sitting there," she said.
The County is actively seeking alternative funding sources, but there is no set timeline for securing the necessary funds.
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