Four of five County Commissioners, who obviously have little knowledge or understanding about airports, voted last night to proceed with the development of Airport Camden.
County Administrator Sean Boatright started the Airport Camden sales pitch by reading Georgia DOT’s case study of the Cook County Airport. We heard from Mr. Boatright how the airport is supposedly instrumental in business development for Adel which is about 30 miles north of Valdosta.
What Mr. Boatright didn’t tell us are the public facts available directly from the US Census about changes in Cook County. Since the date of the 2020 DOT report, Cook County population has increased by 174 while Camden’s population has increased 12.89 times faster with an increase of 2,244. Since 2010, our population has grown 12.8% while Cook’s population grew 1.1%.
Camden’s per capita income is 1.42 times higher than income in Cook County and our poverty level is 42% lower than the number of Cook County’s persons in poverty.
You can read what Mr. Boatright recited starting on page 138: https://www.dot.ga.gov/InvestSmart/Aviation/EconomicImpactStudy/Technical%20Report.pdf
Mr. Boatright read this paragraph to us: “Cardinal CT chose its location in Cook County in part because of the airport. According to Mike Harris, the plant’s general manager…’From a production standpoint and from a work ethics standpoint, the quality of the labor force here is tremendous.’ Did the plant’s general manager mention the airport? From an economic development perspective, it is hard to see Mr. Boatright’s point.
AirNav reports that 44% of the airport take-offs operate in the local traffic pattern or within sight of the airport or flights in practice areas located within a 20-mile radius of the airport. 26% of flight operations are “military.” So 70% of the noise, risk, and cost are certainly not related to economic development.
Mr. Boatright should provide facts and figures detailing how Camden taxpayers will benefit from our $5,000,000 Airport Camden investment.
What about the direct economic impacts of the airport? The DOT report includes the head count and salaries of Cook County’s Economic Development Commission which relocated to the airport. Would moving Camden’s Joint Development Authority to Airport Camden ever happen? And wouldn’t that just be robbing Peter to pay Paul? The airport, by the way, is just 1,900 feet from Adel’s Walmart Superstore. Are we getting another Walmart near Airport Camden?
And as a last tidbit, Cook County hosts a build-it-yourself airplane kit maker who also converts 1960’s Corvair engines to airplane use. But the actual factory workshop, jobs, and we assume worker's residences, are located 33 miles away – in Brooks County. We notice that company’s workshop is also located on public sewer.
It's been a decade since $10.8 million was ‘invested’ modernizing the Horse Stamp Church Road interchange (exit 22) to accelerate development of Camden's north end, but no water or sewer has been provided so no development has occurred. Mr. Boatright, will Airport Camden have public water and sewer?
Maybe Cook County should have saved the money it spent on its airport.
Comments