Habersham airport approved hangar designs, but construction remains unestablished

Habersham County’s Airport Commission unanimously approved a $26,300 design task order for Lead Edge Design Group on March 7, 2022, advancing plans for two proposed T-hangars and one proposed commercial box hangar at the county airport. The vote approved the scope of work and design services, but it did not authorize construction of the facilities.

That distinction matters because airport users and county residents cannot treat a design authorization as a commitment to add hangar space. The March decision could prepare the project for later action, but a construction bid, contract and completed work would determine whether the proposed buildings became usable airport facilities. No construction cost is stated in the March approval.

The project first appeared before the commission on Feb. 7, 2022, when its agenda called for consideration of a design task order covering the same two T-hangars and commercial box hangar. Rather than approve it then, commissioners unanimously tabled the Lead Edge Design Group vote until March. When the item returned on March 7, the commission approved both the proposed scope and the $26,300 task order.

The commission’s recorded position was unanimous support for moving the design work forward in March, after a unanimous decision to defer the question in February. Lead Edge Design Group was identified as the design contractor under the approved task order. The meeting records do not describe public opposition, a competing proposal, or a selected construction company, so they do not establish broader agreement or disagreement over eventually building the hangars.

The completed act documented in the March minutes was approval of design work for three proposed facilities. The two T-hangars and commercial box hangar remained proposed under that action. The February and March minutes do not state that construction began or was completed, and no later construction bid, award, amendment, start of work or completion is established here. That leaves the physical outcome unknown, rather than proof that the hangars were built.

The next public step would be a later Airport Commission agenda or minutes showing that design work was completed, that a construction bid was sought or awarded, that a contractor was hired, or that the project was finished. Until such a record appears, it remains undecided in the documented history whether construction was later proposed, who—if anyone—was selected to build the hangars, and whether any of the three facilities opened.