Rissa Shaw
rshaw@newscenter25.com
Updated: 3/06 5:32 pm
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Air Traffic Control Tower Scheduled to Close
The Air Traffic Control Tower on the government's chopping block, is set to close next month but there is some hope.
The FAA announced Tuesday it will close 173 Air Traffic Control Towers at small and medium size airports on April 7th because of forced budget cuts and Victoria Regional is on that list. Airport manager Jason Milewski said the county may come to the rescue. He said county leaders are committed to finding a way to keep the control tower open, providing that additional funding can be located. This came out of a meeting between the Airport Commission and County Commissioner's Thursday. Milewski said, they are roughly estimating they'll need about half-a-million dollars a year to keep the tower open. If not, Milewski said at least 4-5 jobs will be lost automatically, and people's safety would be put at risk. Victoria Regional, along other airports on the list, will stay open regardless. The forced spending cuts, known as the sequestration, are also expected to impact FAA staff.
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