Ector County approves final draft of master plan for Schlemeyer Airport

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - The Ector County Commissioners Court approved the final draft of a master plan for Schlemeyer Airport.

Coffman Associates presented the study which found the airport will need to go from a B2 to a C2 classification.

“That just means that we’re gonna be seeing a few faster and a few heavier jets coming in. The important thing to note is that this does not mean that the classification will need to be for airplanes at a freightliner level or 747 level,” said Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett.

The total cost would be $60 million, but TXDOT and the FAA provide 90% of the funding, the county matches 10%.

“Really the reason for this is to get a good list of projects and prioritize projects that we can take forward to TXDOT whenever you have these master plans TXDOT is much more amenable to providing funding to match your local funding,” said Fawcett.

They were also presented with some land use options.

“That was what I was keen on seeing is what more can we do with this airport to make it an economic driver. Where can we put more hangers where we can add commercial locations for more airport related activities and also non airport related activities,” said Fawcett.

This is a 25 year master plan. The goal would be to secure the funds sooner rather than later.

“The next step is it goes to TXDOT then it goes to the FAA and then w get all of that documentation back and we sit down with TXDOT aviation and we say okay here’s our list of priorities where do you agree okay how much is that particular project gonna cost then lets allocate the funding towards it,” said Fawcett.

Additions to the airport could also include about 40 additional large hangers, though specific decisions won’t be final until the contract is drafted.

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