Gov. Deal decision on firearms bill could affect Macon Downtown Airport

A bill now before Gov. Nathan Deal could impact exactly where firearms can be carried at one of Macon's two airports.

State law currently allows firearms to be carried as far as security checkpoints at all Georgia airports, but the pending campus-carry bill may lift a restriction on another area at the Macon Downtown Airport.

Middle Georgia State University leases space there.

"We're waiting to see what happens with the campus carry law currently being discussed at the state level, but based on the existing law, individuals are not allowed to carry weapons on the portion of airport property in the possession of/used by the university," Macon-Bibb County spokesman Chris Floore said in an email. "Attorney General Sam Olens indicated license holders cannot carry a weapon on school property in 2014. However, if the new campus carry bill passes, that would likely change."

Deal has yet to sign the campus carry bill that was approved by state legislators earlier this month. In 2014, Georgia legislators approved another controversial firearms law that allows people with concealed carry permits to take weapons into certain areas of airports. Under the law, if someone with a permit is caught at the security checkpoint with a firearm, that person has an opportunity to leave with the weapon without facing a criminal charge.

Separately, the county commission is expected to take up a resolution Tuesday to align local ordinance with state law regarding firearms at airports. This is a "housekeeping" measure, since the county has allowed weapons to be taken into certain areas of Bibb airports since it became law two years ago, Floore said.

FLOODING PROPOSAL GRANT TO GO BEFORE COMMITTEE

The county could look to better shore up the Ocmulgee River by spending $421,590 as part of a levee study.

The county's money would be a match for a U.S. federal grant of $521,590 to look at how flooding could be better prevented along the Macon levee system, located along a 5.5-mile stretch along the river. A resolution to match the grant is expected to go before the commission's Operations and Finance Committee on Tuesday. The match money would come from the Macon Water Authority, Floore said.

The Flood of 1994 that led to Macon going without water for a few weeks shows the importance of a strong levee system, Commissioner Larry Schlesinger said.

"The soundness of the levees has to be a perpetual concern to us," he said. "It seems to me that if we're contributing to an analysis and so is the Army, then it's probably money well spent."

OFFICIALS TO DEBATE COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT

Macon-Bibb County employees could receive a cost-of-living-adjustment.

A resolution sponsored by Commissioner Larry Schlesinger proposes providing a 1.5 percent monthly COLA for members of the Macon-Bibb County pension plan. Schlesinger said the increase will be based on whether the county can continue to financially support the costs.

Schlesinger said the COLA is the same rate that two other local government pension plans have received since the city and county consolidated in January 2014. If approved, the COLA would go into effect in January 2017.

"It seems to me it might have been something that was overlooked in the rush to consolidation," Schlesinger said.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Gov. Deal decision on firearms bill could affect Macon Downtown Airport ."