ODESSA, Texas — Wednesday marked the first meeting of the Joint Airport Zoning Board.
The board is tasked with protecting the public and the Ector County Schlemeyer Airport from hazards in or around the airport.
These hazards can come about because of the growth around the area, which the JAZB wants to make sure can be done safely.
“There’s considerable growth in north Ector County, and we just want to make sure that growth is safely done,” said Don Stringer, Ector County commissioner and Board Chairman of the JAZB.
There are already identified issues around the airport that need to be resolved.
“There are some city plans that developers are getting close to us, and you want to make sure that the height hazards that are going into the airspace, the approach airspace, is not entered into," said Mark Merritt, Chairman of the Airport Advisory Board and JAZB member. "There’s some telephone poles and a few things that are going up around the construction that we’ve had to talk to Oncor about, and they’re taking care of those.”
JAZB is in the process of working with all the necessary parties to resolve the issues around the airport.
But even with all this work, it isn’t the intention of the board to expand the Schlemeyer Airport.
“We’re wanting to not grow the airport, it’s to maintain and keep the airport we have,” said Merritt.
After today’s meeting, the board will continue their work and meet again next month.
All of which will help make the airport and the area around it safer.