Two Jeep Liberties formerly used by the Wood County Assessor’s Office are shown Thursday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport, where they are now serving as courtesy vehicles. The Jeeps were refurbished by Kincheloe Motors at no cost to the airport. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Members of the military, corporate flight crews and passengers and other aviators fly to the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in their own aircraft, but they might need some assistance getting around on the ground.

Now the airport has multiple courtesy vehicles for them to use.

“If you can’t get from the airport to where you need to go, we’re not viable,” airport Manager Ben Auville said.

The airport started this week using a pair of Jeep Liberties, model years 2006 and 2007, that had been Wood County Assessor’s Office vehicles.

Joe Kincheloe, a member of the Mid-Ohio Valley Aviation Association and co-owner of Kincheloe Motors, had the vehicles refurbished — including new tires, alignments, oil changes, upholstery fixes and other steps to get them to pass state safety inspections — and applied airport decals to the doors, all at no expense to the airport.

Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Assistant Manager Sydnie Beall sits behind the wheel of a Jeep Liberty recently fixed up by Kincheloe Motors to serve as a courtesy vehicle at the airport Thursday. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“When I fly into other airports, there’s almost always a vehicle that they’re willing to loan to you,” Kincheloe said.

He’d noticed the Jeeps sitting unused in a lot at the airport. So he contacted Assessor David Nohe, who worked with the Wood County Commission to have them signed over to the airport.

“We were probably going to sell them in the next countywide auction, and that’s why they were up there,” Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said.

Auville said the courtesy vehicles, plus a Lincoln sedan Kincheloe also volunteered to fix up, allow general aviation customers to “do what they need to do in the community.”

People can have rental cars brought to the airport, but that’s not available at all hours, Auville said. Ride-sharing in the area is relatively limited, but with three courtesy vehicles, “I generally have one available throughout the day,” he said.

A Jeep Liberty formerly used by the Wood County Assessor’s Office is shown Thursday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport, where it now serves as a courtesy vehicle. It and another Liberty were refurbished by Kincheloe Motors at no cost to the airport. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

While Contour Airlines provides two flights a day into and out of the airport, there can be almost as many folks using the airport on the general aviation side, Auville said. Fuel sales generate revenue for airport expenses not covered by federal aviation dollars, as well as the required 10% local share of Federal Aviation Administration funds.

General aviation passengers don’t count toward the airport’s enplanement totals, but the FAA contract for control tower personnel is based on total operations, which do take private and military flights into account, Auville said.

“The volume helps keep the control tower open,” he said.

Providing services like courtesy vehicles is a way to make the airport more appealing to people who have a choice of which facility to use, Auville said.

The Mid-Ohio Valley Aviation Association has recently become more active again, Kincheloe said, and members want to do what they can to help the airport succeed. The group “has a number of people that are skilled in just a lot of different areas in which we feel we can be of service,” he said.

Auville said he appreciated Kincheloe’s efforts and the county for recognizing the vehicles were needed by the airport.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.