Rogers approves money for airport

ROGERS — The City Council on Tuesday approved federal grant money for the Rogers Executive Airport in light of the covid-19 pandemic.

The $157,000 comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

“The CARES Act grant funds will be used to help pay for budgeted operations and maintenance expenses. We are very grateful for the CARES Act funding to help offset the significant financial impacts from the pandemic and help keep the Rogers Executive Airport operational during this challenging time,” David Krutsch, airport manager, wrote in an email.

Mayor Greg Hines said near the end of the meeting the city is holding up financially through the covid-19 pandemic. Although Rogers depends heavily on sales tax revenue in retail and many retail businesses are closed, the city has a healthy reserve fund, he said.

“We’re fine. We’re going to be OK. We are not laying people off. We have not furloughed anyone,” he said.

Employees who can work from home are doing so, he said.

It’s difficult to say yet how much sales tax revenue the city has collected for March and April, Hines said.

Sales tax numbers for February sales were released April 22.

The council also voted to spend $40,000 for equipment at Fire Station No. 8 in west Rogers and to table a request to annex about 45 acres west of Roberts Road and south of Pleasant Grove Road into the city.

The council passed all items unanimously. Rogers held its council meeting via Zoom, a videoconferencing service, in light of the pandemic.

Alex Golden can be reached by email at agolden@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAalexgolden.