By Emily Burleigh

Leesville Municipal Airport is getting another upgrade.

The Leesville City Council approved a contract for APECK Construction — a general contractor in Vernon Parish — for the airport runway extension project.

The airport, located four miles west of Leesville on La. 8, is for public use, and houses organizations like the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Civil Air Patrol, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1356, Pilots for Patients, Crossroads Aviation and Flatt Solutions.

A new entrance will be added to the far east side, coming off of La. 8, to access the 55 acres on the east side of the runway. Mayor Rick Allen said this is a step to prepare to “offer the federal government an additional 50 lay-down yard” to diversify the airport’s offerings.

The project is to be funded by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and the Louisiana Departent of Transportation and Development’s Aviation Grant.

The original bid was $370,000 over the project’s budget. To address this, the city budget was modified to prove it could cover the cost of overages in the case that funding is unable to be secured through other means, he said.

After working with the original project designer, ICE Global Engineering Services and the Louisiana Economic Development, they were able to get that number down to “around the $250,000 range,” Allen said.

“We believe there’s still savings in there.”

Additionally, the city administration worked to identify internal overages to offset remaining costs if the city has to pay.

He called the airport a “great project” for the region.

“God only knows what we could happen at the Leesville airport.”

The council unanimously approved the city’s commitment to cover costs for the projects, not can’t exceeding $400,000.

Also at the meeting, the council accepted the resignation of Finance Director Nicole Naral. Kimberly Bridges was appointed as the new Leesville finance director.

The council also approved he bid advertisement for a project to clear 15 to 18 acres of land at the City Recreational Project and adopted the 2025 tax year millage rates. Millage rates total 17.85 mills: general alimony is set for 5.150 mills; sewerage system for 8.500 mills; street bond for 4.200 mills.

An ordinance to amend the 2024-25 fiscal year (FY) budget and approve the 2025-26 FY budget will be voted on at a meeting at 3 p.m. on May 12 at City Hall, 508 S. 5th St.

Council member Nicole Ybarra, District 3, was not present for the meeting.