Huron County Airport almost out of the red

The Huron County Airport saw another month of improving finances and is looking at ways to finish closing the gap between the red and black lines."We're definitely narrowing down that loss (year to date)," board president Harry Brady said. "We're getting close to zero. If we continue to sell fuel, especially the Jet A fuel at the rate we have been, we'll get out of that hole probably within the next few months."The board reported a May net loss year to date of more than $8,000. June, however, brought the red down by over $4,000, down to $2,259.85. Brady attributed this in a large part to the fuel sales.The sale of about 696 gallons of AVGas brought in $3,117, while the sale of 950 gallons of Jet A fuel added $3,325 to the bank."We're decreasing that red number and the fuel sales are definitely helping that," he said.A large part of that, more than 600 gallons, went to one pilot. Large sales like this increase as Summit Motorsport Parks holds large events, something the airport has started to take advantage of, including the use of rental cars for pilots through a local business."(It's been ) very nice this year to be able to deal with rental cars and it was great. We actually ran out of rental cars and had to finagle a couple more," board member Melissa James said."We're kicking around working with Summit a little more next year, getting a few of their golf carts or something for us to use to transport people," Brady said."If people want to stay and camp over too, it's worth looking into if it's a money maker. If it's a money maker for the airport, I'm definitely willing to stay here and make money off of some of those shows (at the raceway)." The board also discussed the need to post signs near the runway alerting pilots of tie down fees."We had 20 planes here and we only collected $20," Brady said."With 20 planes, that alone would have paid for someone to have stayed here. With as big of an event as (the recent event at Summit) was I think we'll post signs advertising tie-down fees or having someone stay here to collect the fees, because I don't think that the pilots realize the tie-down fees still apply and some of them were here overnight for three days."The board moved to check into the pricing of having two signs made, but not to have the project exceed $100. Board members want to have the signs done and in place before Aug. 13, when Summit will hold its Night Under Fire, its largest event of the year, which will draw many people and planes to the area.In other business the board:• Updated the county on the runway project. The runway has received its first coat of paint, which had to dry before a second coat was applied. The second coat is scheduled to be applied Wednesday.• Purchased an HP laptop with the required programs for $1,418 to replace old desktop the airport was previously using. The money for the purchase was approved last year, but with the state of the funds, the board chose to postpone the expense until finances were in a better state. Brady