SALISBURY — With the potential to save millions of dollars, Rowan County officials are considering changing runway extension plans at Mid-Carolina Regional Airport.

Instead of extending the runway northward by 500 feet, the Airport Advisory Board on Thursday debated whether to extend the runway over a contaminated site to the south. County officials avoided that option previously because of costs associated with contamination cleanup, but a presentation by engineering firm Talbert, Bright and Ellington indicated that the cleanup might not be needed.

The airport board did not settle on whether to change the runway extension plan but asked the engineering firm to provide more data about a southbound extension at the former Rowan County Airport.

Because of the initial savings projections, Commissioner Craig Pierce advocated Thursday for switching the extension. Pierce is the county commissioners’ liaison to the airport board.

“I think it’s time to pull the trigger on this thing,” he said. “It might be our better option.”

A northbound extension, currently shown on the airport’s master plan, would take the runway closer to Grants Creek and Rowan Mill Road. It would come with a price tag of $25 million, according to Talbert, Bright and Ellington. A major part of the cost would be for leveling out a hill at the end of the runway.

At that cost, the county’s desired runway extension isn’t likely to get federal funding, according to a letter obtained by the Salisbury Post.

The letter, between a Charlotte aviation consultant and the county’s engineering firm, states, “There is no way that I can imagine that the project could be justified with a (benefit cost analysis).”

Written by Frank Newton Jr. of Newton and Associates, the letter says it’s questionable whether the county could fund the runway extension.

“I doubt the extension could ever generate incremental economic activity to recover a $25 million investment,” Newton wrote. “I encourage the county to explore less costly alternatives to obtaining the desired runway length.”

The less costly option may be extending the runway over the site previously thought to be too contaminated.

Across from the runway are multiple buildings that may need to be demolished for the runway extension. One of the buildings is already used by county government, but the others would have to be purchased.

One building, however, sits above a plume of a chemical called tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, said representatives of Talbert, Bright and Ellington. The chemical plume is dissipating and not migrating from its current spot in the ground, the engineering firm said.

It’s possible that Rowan County would only need to install monitoring wells, not clean up the chemical, the engineering firm said.

During the discussion, commissioners Chairman Greg Edds asked what would happen if the chemical moved or if state officials require the county to take action. The project might be millions of dollars cheaper up front, but what happens if there’s a problem later? Edds asked. No clear answer was given.

If a southbound extension is cheaper and environmental contamination isn’t a concern, Pierce said, then it should be the county’s choice.

“We were only going to the other side, the north side, because of the contamination,” he said.

In other business at Thursday’s meeting:

• The board discussed a runway resurfacing project that will require a temporary closure of the runway.

The closure would last 14 days, but exact dates have not been determined.

Talbert, Bright and Ellington plans to start soliciting bids immediately. The closure could be later this year or in the spring, representatives of the engineering firm said.

• The Airport Advisory Board discussed whether the runway extension on the south end should be 1,000 feet instead of 500 feet.

The costs for the longer extension are not clear. No decision was made Thursday about the issue.

Board member Randy Baker said a 1,000-foot extension would put Mid-Carolina Regional Airport “in a whole different class of airplanes.”

• The board discussed whether to raise its towing fee from $10 to $25 but did not take action on the requested increase.

Multiple board members, including pilots Tom Greene and Randy Baker, said the airport should avoid towing fees. The pilots said most airports don’t charge a towing fee and that Rowan County could get a negative reputation if it did.

They recommended a handling fee instead, which is more common.

Contact associate editor Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.