Rome gets an increase in federal block grant funds

♦ Housing repair program and sidewalk work will get additional money.

Rome will get a $26,219 increase in its 2018 Community Development Block Fund grant that will enable the city to add cash to several key programs. Community Development Director Bekki Fox said more funds will be added to the minor repair program for owner-occupied low-income housing improvements as well as additional sidewalk repairs.

The overall CDBG allocation for Rome has been upped to $421,336 and Fox told members of the Community Development Services committee Tuesday that she has gotten early indications the 2019 allocation will hold at that level. There have been concerns that the administration in Washington was ready to make cuts to the program, but Congress has seen the benefits to small cities across the country and worked to preserve the program.

Fox said sidewalk work on Dean Avenue — from an area across from East Central

Floyd County Commissioners are looking for a new airport manager. Russell Regional Airport Manager Mike Mathews has turned in his notice to become airport director at the Athens-Ben Epps Airport. Mathews’ last day in Rome will be July 6 and he will start in Athens on July 9.

Mathews has been the airport manager in Rome for two decades and said the decision to leave was a difficult one to make.

“I did everything I could to keep him. I wish him the best,” said Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord.

“Russell Regional has successfully completed millions of dollars of projects under my leadership and is now in the middle of over $10 million in projects,” Mathews said. “The airport is in a great position for the future and will continue to thrive as long as the current momentum continues.”

Mathews said the overall compensation package from Athens/Clarke County was just something he could not turn down. The lure of an airport that really desires commercial traffic was also something that swung the tide to the Northeast Georgia community.

Modern aviation has changed tremendously over the course of Mathews’ career, and he said his greatest achievements have been related to winning additional visibility to the airport for future generations.

“Bringing organizations like the Museum of Flight and Tigerflight to the airport, along with the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show, has brought tremendous exposure to the airport,” Mathews said. “I was really nervous about that first air show, but we have been able to build on it every year.”

The physical condition of the airport has been significantly upgraded during Mathews’ tenure, and three major projects are about to get underway, including the long-awaited 1,000 foot extension of the main runway 1/19. Fresh asphalt overlays of both runways are also in the works with the work to improve the east/ west runway 7/25 expected to get underway soon. The overlay on the main runway will not actually occur until the extension project is finished so as to make one smooth surface.

“I think I’m really leaving the airport in pretty good shape,” Mathews said.