The Jefferson County Council on May 26 accepted a $50,000 Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) grant to aid in the selection of a site suitable for an airport.
In a letter notifying the county that it has received the grant, Brian Boehmer, aviation operations manager with MoDOT, said the county will be required to provide a 10 percent match, or at least $5,000.
Boehmer said MoDOT expects to use money from the state Aviation Trust Fund (ATF) for the county’s grant. The ATF receives all state aviation fuel tax proceeds, up to a cap of $10 million per year, according to MoDOT’s website.
There are 120 public-use airports in the state, 32 of which are eligible for ATF grants. The remaining are eligible for federal aid and funding.
Boehmer stated in the letter that he will act as project manager as the county selects a consultant and reviews sites as part of the study.
County Administrator David B. Courtway said the county allocated $75,000 in the 2026 budget for the airport site selection study, well above MoDOT’s mandatory 10 percent match. He estimated it would cost more than $100,000 for the study to be completed.
The county began the request for qualifications (RFQ) process for consultants on the airport site selection study in October, with the process finished in February, Courtway said.
He said the county has accepted a proposal from a consultant but must receive approval from MoDOT before the consultant can be finally approved by the County Council and begin working.
Unlike a request for proposals, consultants are barred from including any fee or cost information when responding to an RFQ.
After a consultant is selected based on criteria laid out in state statutes, the firm will then be required to submit a copy of its rate, according to county documents.
The council on May 26 voted unanimously to approve the MoDOT grant.
The county’s only airport, Festus Municipal Airport in Crystal City, closed in 2022 to make way for the James Hardie Industries manufacturing facility. The Citizens for Airport Economic Expansion operated the airport for many years.
The James Hardie company, based in Ireland, is a building materials manufacturer and the largest global producer of fiber cement siding and backboard, according to its website.
The company plans to invest $399 million in the Crystal City plant, according to state economic officials.
The 1.25 million-square-foot facility will employ 238 people once it’s completed, officials have reported.