The City of Covington will soon be assuming control of the airport's operations and, at its Monday meeting, will discuss what will be needed to run the airport's facilities.

According to a memo from Airport Engineer Vincent Passariello, the city will need to spend around $20,000 to clean up the airport and purchase supplies, including uniforms, equipment, office supplies and furniture. In addition, according to a memo from the city’s insurance consultant, Covington will have to pay an additional $7,500 per year in insurance costs for $2 million of coverage for a new operations liability policy.

In addition, an agenda item has been added, titled "Discussion of mediation talks with Airport FBO." Neither City Manager Steve Horton nor Dixie Jet Manager Rusty Anglin could provide any comment. Horton could only say that the request came to the city through the city attorney’s office.

Another item on the city’s agenda is a first reading of an ordinance to change the city’s outdoor burning ordinance. The fire department does not generally give out outdoor burning permits, but the practice is allowed. Chief Don Floyd recommended making some changes to the ordinance to make it more stringent, which would make him feel more comfortable about issuing outdoor burning permits.

The city will also discuss making changes to it personnel policies, moving forward on its plans to revitalize the Walker’s Bend subdivision and possibly changing the ordinance to only allow buying or selling of gold in specified zoning districts.

The city will have a work session at 5 p.m. to discuss its agenda items, followed by the official council meeting at 6:30 p.m.

In county news, the Board of Commissioners has planned three SPLOST work sessions, as it tries to finalize a list to present to voters for the 2011 SPLOST. The work sessions will be Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. and Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.