Ellsworth received a $900,000 gift toward its future this past week from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Supporters of a longer runway at Ellsworth Municipal Airport were notified Thursday, Sept. 12, that the FAA had backtracked on its decision to fund a runway shorter than the one planned by the city.

The decision follows an Aug. 23 visit of federal representatives to Ellsworth, at which time local officials were given until Sept. 6 to make their case. They apparently hit the right notes.

Earlier this year, Congress appropriated an additional $500 million in supplemental funding to the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, which awards discretionary grant funding to small, rural general aviation airports.

At first, it appeared Ellsworth would receive full funding for its new runway, which was to be expanded from its current 4,300 feet to 4,500 feet. Then FAA officials apparently had a change of heart and said the program would fund a 3,700 feet runway.

It would have cost Ellsworth taxpayers roughly $900,000 to pay for the longer runway, City Administrator Scott Moore said.

At a legislative coffee in July at Wilson, U.S. Jerry Moran, R-Manhattan, listened as airport supporters asked him to intervene on the city’s behalf.

“They’re looking at the past. We’re looking at the future,” Ellsworth County resident and pilot Mike Olson said of the FAA.

First District Congressman Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, also supported the longer runway.

“I have heard from many community leaders that their airport is vital to the long-term success of their communities,” Marshall said in a news release.

“Many businesses and health care services rely on municipal airports to reach rural communities. We must continue to allow our airports to keep pace with changing industry needs, and I applaud the FAA for assisting our communities in achieving this goal.”

Moore said the federal agency’s favorable decision was in part the result of an Airport Takeoff Directive to Wayne’s Agricultural Aviation that all future takoffs be northbound when the plane has a full load of fertilizer. The action came at the suggestion of an FAA representative during the Aug. 23 visit.

It was noted at a recent City Council meeting that Fritchett and his hired ag sprayers already limit their takeoffs and do not fly southbound over Ellsworth with full loads of fertilizer due to safety concerns.

Total cost of the runway project is projected at $8.5 million. Moore said the next step will be to settle on designs and complete other paperwork so the project can be open for bids. Construction is expected to start in the spring or fall of 2020.