The final hurdle to advertise for a rescue and firefighting vehicle for Greenwood-Leflore Airport has been cleared by the Greenwood City Council.
The council’s unanimous action, taken at its regular meeting Tuesday, allows for the bids to be taken on the vehicle.
The plan to advertise has already been approved by the Leflore County Board of Supervisors and the Airport Board.
Greenwood businessman Allan Hammons, an airport advocate, appeared before the council to ask for its support. He said adequate fire protection is of concern to the airport’s biggest client — General Electric Commercial Aviation Services, which recently signed a new contract with the airport.
“One of the issues that we’ve had was fire protection at the airport. We had an incident involving the loss of an airplane there,” Hammons said.
Under the new agreement with the General Electric, the required level of fire protection had to be raised at the airport, and that will require an additional rescue” truck, he said.
The council on Tuesday also approved a number of appropriations to non-governmental agencies. They include:
• $14,500 to Main Street Greenwood Inc.
• $5,000 to the Greenwood Mentoring Group.
• $3,500 to the Leflore County Service Center of the American Red Cross.
The council also approved allowing the dismissal of city employees at noon Oct. 11 to participate in the city’s eighth annual Employee Appreciation Picnic.
In addition, the council approved advertising for sealed bids on the city’s planned Safe Routes to School Project. The project, which has been going on for seven years, will provide a sidewalk running along Cotton Street to Davis Elementary School.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
