The Peachtree

City Airport Authority has voted to secure a $200,000 loan for part of

the third phase of its newly designated commercial hangar area that's

under construction.

The funds will

cover construction of roadways, auto parking areas and utility infrastructure

for the project. The rest of the construction will be paid for by federal

and state grants.

The loan will

likely be paid off within seven years, Falcon Field Manager Jim Savage

said at Wednesday night's authority meeting. The payments will come from

the city's increased payments to the authority coming from the recent

increase in hotel-motel tax funds from 3 percent to 5 percent.

Originally,

the low bid for the project came in at $168,000. However, that did not

include running utilities such as gas and electricity to the hangar area

since the engineer didn't include that in the bid package, Savage said.

After adding

the utility costs, the total rose to $220,000, Savage noted. The authority

decided to hold off installing the gas line, which will save $15,000.

Some items

could be cut from the project to trim the figures down another $5,000,

Savage added.

In other business,

the authority also decided to assess Consumer Price Index adjustments

in three-year intervals on all airport leases, storage fees and access

agreements. Authority Chairwoman Catherine Nelmes said it would be fair

to all tenants since it would allow them when to expect a cost increase.

The first adjustment

will be applied July 1, 2004. All leases, fees and agreements will be

adjusted on the same date to make it easier to keep track of, Savage said.

The adjustments

will take into account the percentage change in the CPI over the previous

three years so the airport's fees can keep up with inflation, Savage said.

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