ROME, Ga. — The nonprofits based at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport will get a chance to work off their rental payments, starting in January.
TigerFlight Foundation, the Rome Civil Air Patrol squadron and the Rome Experimental Aircraft Association operated for years with just token payments to the facility.
Now, with projects under way to prepare for an expected influx of businesses drawn by the Northwest Georgia Technical College aviation program, officials are tightening up on all usage agreements.
New land leases offered to businesses and individuals contain a 1.8 percent increase to 32 cents a square foot, and are likely to rise as the economy recovers and the waiting list grows.
“We can’t afford that,” EAA spokesman Rex Puckett told the Floyd County Airport Commission when the issue was broached this past fall.