Funding requests approved at two Air Force bases in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Vance and Altus Air Force bases will get state funding for improvement projects under a decision by the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission.<br/><br/>The panel on Thursday

Friday, December 2nd 2005, 9:58 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Vance and Altus Air Force bases will get state funding for improvement projects under a decision by the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission.

The panel on Thursday awarded the city of Enid $225,000 to build a backup water system at Vance Air Force Base.

The city of Altus will get $200,000 to improve an Altus Air Force Base runway so it can be used by tenants of a planned $20 million air industrial park nearby.

The backup water supply at Vance will provide security to the base in the event its main water supply is attacked as well as a backup in the event a water line is cut, commission Chairman Mike Cooper said.

The project is estimated to cost $350,000. The city of Enid will pay the remaining $125,000 of the project's cost, he said.

Runway improvements at Altus Air Force Base will allow it to be used by private aircraft either owned or doing business with tenants at the air industrial park west of the base, said Dr. Joe Leverett, a commissioner from Altus.

The flights, not expected to be more than one per day, would not interfere with the base's mission, Leverett said.

The commission was allocated $1 million this fiscal year to help the state's five military installations in the event any was selected for closure by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

All five escaped unscathed; the money can be used to help the bases deal with growth and security issues, Cooper said.