Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Authority Manager Ben Auville discusses plans for the renovation of Hangar 4 Tuesday morning at the airport. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

WILLIAMSTOWN — A private company will renovate a large hangar at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport for use by a local flight school and airplane mechanic business in exchange for a 20-year lease on the property.

The Wood County Airport Authority approved the agreement Tuesday morning on a 4-0 vote. Recusing himself from the vote was authority member Andy Daniel, owner of 3D Construction Properties, which will be leasing the building and overseeing the project.

After the meeting, Daniel said he plans to renovate Hangar 4 with new finishes and a 2,000-square-foot addition on the side opposite the taxiway and sub-lease it to River Town Aviation and River Town Aircraft Services, both of which operate at the airport now. The additional space will allow Aircraft Services, the maintenance arm, to work on six to eight planes at a time, as opposed to two, he said.

“It creates a more capable service of aircraft maintenance,” Daniel said. “It puts them on the next level.”

During the meeting, River Town co-owner Seth Bertram noted the mechanic operation is already drawing “airplanes from outside the area to get worked on.”

Wood County Airport Authority member and 3D Construction Properties owner Andy Daniel speaks during an authority meeting Tuesday. The other authority members voted, with Daniel recusing himself, to lease Hangar 4 to Daniel’s company for 20 years in exchange for renovation of the facility. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Authority member Terry Moore said he’s pleased with the progress he’s seen from River Town.

“We’re in great hopes that the sub-lease is going to continue to grow and prosper,” he said.

The cost for the 20-year lease will be $1 a year and 3D will get right-of-first refusal to continue leasing the property at fair market value when that term ends.

The hangar has been used for a flight school before and also housed helicopters for a medical transport business. Daniel said he’s pursuing the project due to his “passion for aviation.

“To bring it back to what it originally was intended for, I think it’s going to be great,” he said.

Hangar 4 is seen at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Tuesday morning. The Wood County Airport Authority agreed to lease the hangar for $1-a-year for 20 years to 3D Construction properties in exchange for the company renovating the facility. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The lease had been discussed in a closed, executive session during a previous meeting. Members hammered out a few more details with Daniel in open session Tuesday before voting to approve it.

Daniel said he originally wanted to renovate the existing office space, but found a new addition would make more sense. He’d previously sought a 15-year lease, but requested it be increased to 20 with the larger investment, to which authority members agreed.

Authority President Bill Richardson noted the lease gave 3D permission to sublease it to River Town as well as similar businesses with certain federal certifications. He said he trusts Daniel and the River Town owners but believed the authority should be able to review other potential sub-lessees.

“If you’re going to sublease or assign it, we should have some control over that,” Richardson said.

Daniel agreed to the change.

Richardson emphasized to those in attendance that Daniel would not be voting on the lease due to his interest in the project.

“We want to make sure we’re doing this in the interest of the airport, and it clearly looks like we are,” he said.

In other business, the authority reached an agreement with a man who was behind on payments for the hangar space where he keeps a kit airplane he was building. He received a notice from the airport to remove it within 30 days and said he could comply with that but was unable to pay the full amount he owed, more than $1,000.

Airport Manager Ben Auville said there could place a lien on the aircraft but given that it is incomplete and they do not have the plans, there would be virtually no value.

After discussion, the authority and the tenant agreed he would pay $500 and remove the plane within 30 days.