Georgetown City Manager David Morgan will send a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division to request that additional airport improvements be added to the state’s Aviation Transportation Improvement Plan following guidance from the City Council during the council's June 23 meeting. Pavement deficiencies and asphalt cracking were identified at the Georgetown Municipal Airport on Runway 18/36 during routine maintenance, Georgetown Transportation Services Director Ed Polasek said. Improvements to the runways were already part of the city’s improvement plan; however, additional improvements are needed, he said. The repairs are estimated to cost $3.1 million. If TxDOT were to approve a grant for the project, the city would be responsible for $310,000 of the total project costs, Polasek said. Two residents and members of the Airport Concerned Citizens, or ACC, group, which has been petitioning the city to stop expansion or relocate the airport, spoke at the meeting against the city requesting additional funding from the state. “ACC opposes approval by the City Council,” said Hugh Norris, a member of the ACC, adding that the group opposes increased air traffic and larger aircraft using the airport. “This is just one more [project in] a long history of property expansion of a problematic airport.” Polasek said the city has no plans to expand the airport; however, in past years the city has purchased properties for runway clear zones in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration standards. “We can’t change the mix of aircraft unless we change the runway’s length,” he said. “We’re talking about two different things.” Council Member Steve Fought said he supported the plan to repair the runway. “If we are going to maintain a high quality airport, which is what we’ve committed ourselves to do, we’ve got to maintain the runway in good condition and the taxiways and everything else,” he said. “This is a way to get some money to help us do this. … Maintenance and repair is essential.” The letter will allow TxDOT to add the project to a future TxDOT Aviation Transportation Improvement Plan, which could be in the 2017 or 2018 fiscal years, Polasek said.