May 21, 2013
The economic development announcement scheduled for tomorrow morning, March 1, at the Dothan Civic Center at 10:30 a.m. has been cancelled due to the uncertainty of sequestration and the impact it will have on the Dothan community.
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Earlier this week, we told you about a major economic announcement set for Friday. That announcement has been canceled.
We now know the announcement involved a new business moving into the Dothan Airport. The airport authority was scheduled to meet Friday morning. One of the items on their agenda was a lease agreement, but that meeting has been canceled, as well.
Under sequestration cuts, the Transportation Safety Administration would close control towers at nearly 200 small airports nationwide. Dothan Regional Airport is on that list.
If the cuts happen, the tower would close April 1. However, a deal could still be struck to keep the airport open.
But until things are more definite, the project has been put on hold.
The federal government or someone from FAA has put a list out of 185 FAA towers that may be closed because of sequestation," said Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz. "They want to make sure before we have the announcement. The company definitely still wants to come here we just need to resolve this issue."
Mayor Schmitz says they're meeting with Senator Richard Shelby on Monday.
The commission meeting scheduled for Friday has not been canceled. Officials plan to vote on a resolution for the economic part of this involving the city.
