PARKERSBURG –The new management of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport appeared before the Wood County Commission on Thursday to introduce themselves and let county officials know what is going on at the airport.

Ben Auville, the new airport manager, appeared before the commission. He was hired at the airport in December and this was his first appearance before the commission to introduce himself and talk about what he is doing.

“(The airport) is in need of attention,” he said. “We have been working on that.

“There are things that need to be done.”

Assistant Manager Sydnie Beall also appeared Thursday.

They are working on Congressional earmarks with the offices of U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin. They are working on doing hanger repairs and other projects that have received federal or state funding with time restraints on the funding.

“We are making sure nothing expires on us,” Auville said, adding there have been a number of leadership changes at the airport over the last year and things needed to be prioritized to be done.

“We have to take it as it is and start moving forward,” he said.

Auville discussed an expansion that was just approved for the National Guard facility at the airport. The National Guard will be putting $8 million into their facility for a hanger expansion. The airport had to sign a lease to make sure they have longevity on the funding for the property for years to come.

The project is expected to be done within the next five years.

Around 30% of the airport’s operations budget comes from military fuel sales from the National Guard facility.

Auville talked about getting a new air system on the roof of the terminal, switching to energy-saving lights and more to better save money, resealing windows around the terminal and other work that needs to be done.

“We are looking at improving the building’s performance to drive down energy costs which are things that should be done,” Auville said.

He talked about people wanting Tesla car chargers at the airport. The airport is 190 miles from Cincinnati, Ohio; 180 miles from Cleveland and 170 from Pittsburgh. With upgrades to W.Va. 2 and Interstate 77 being close by the airport, they could end up being more easily accessible to those travelers.

“We are right at that sweet spot where a lot of vehicles would need to be charged,” Auville said.

Auville said they are looking at partnering with colleges and universities to get certain projects designed.

Beall has been working on getting the airport’s social media presence up. There have been a few Facebook pages run by different employees over the years, but they can no longer access those accounts.

She recently created a new Facebook page and over the last two weeks of social media posts they have reached around 3,500 people.

Auville said they are making posts about what is happening at the airport, the restaurant and more.

They are looking at doing dental vision upgrades to their insurance plans for their employees. Auville wants to look at how the county does insurance coverage for its employees to see if something similar might be done.

The airport is also looking at renovating its old terminal building which has been used by the Civil Air Patrol for years. Auville said they are working with local non-profits and foundations to turn it into a community building. The building is on the airport property but it doesn’t qualify for a lot of the federal operational funding airports are eligible for.

They are also working at getting high-speed internet up at the airport to be accessed in all the hangers in order to access information that can be used to work on certain types of aircraft and more.

County officials said the private pilots association really wants repair work, different hangers and more. There are a lot of things to be addressed at the airport, they added.

“You have a great big task ahead of you,” Commission President Blair Couch said.