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Officials Consider Options to Keep Air Tower Open

JAY HARE / DOTHAN EAGLE

City and county officials are working to determine what they can do to try keeping the control tower at the Dothan Regional Airport open.

Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz told the Dothan Eagle an aircraft maintenance repair company was looking to open a plant in Dothan and bring as many as 500 new jobs. Officials say the company is hesitant to relocate to an airport without a functional control tower.

Schmitz says officials are considering proposals from contract companies to determine how much it could cost for the city and Houston and Dale counties to operate the tower — which is owned by the FAA.

Air traffic control towers in Dothan and Tuscaloosa are slated to close next month with the FAA looking to meet a $637 million budget cut.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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