Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority officials cut the ribbon on a new terminal building at Smith Field airport Monday.The new terminal, at 902 W.A million dollars shy of the $7.06 million needed to pay for upgrades to the county’s emergency 911 system, and reluctant to finance the deal and lose a cash discount, Allen County officials split the difference.
Some Allen County Council members wanted to draw $1 million from a flood-control fund used for economic development, but the motion died after a tie vote among the six council members. A seventh council member, Paul Moss, R-at large, has not attended the last two meetings.
Councilman Roy Buskirk, R-at large, cautioned against taking $2.29 million from the county’s rainy day fund for the project, saying the council cannot continue to depend on using the fund to cover budget shortfalls.
In the end, they agreed to take $500,000 from the rainy day fund and $500,000 from the flood-control fund. The majority of the funding came from the $4.8 million the county received because of an accounting error by the state.
Members of the Consolidated Communications Partnership Board, which oversees the 911 call center, approved an agreement with Motorola in May to replace and install the public safety communications system for about $17 million.
Fort Wayne’s cost for new radios will be $5.6 million; the county’s radio costs will be $2.9 million; and the system infrastructure cost of $8.5 million will be split equally between the two.
