The updated 10-year capital improvements plan is a document modified from the one which was first created in March 2003. It is an outline of the planned improvements to the infrastructure, superstructure, real property, personal property, and facilities under the responsibility of the Port Authority. It also includes a companion Revenue Diversity Plan which includes speculative facility improvements of the Port Authority, including land banking, financing, and other initiatives as part of the 2008 Revenue Diversity Plan. This plan exceeds $140 million in investments.

Combined, these planning documents constitute the official plan for the port authority facilities that is required under Ohio Revised Code Section 4582.32. The Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority is likely among the first port authorities in Ohio to comply with the new law that took affect April 7, 2009.

The plan is forward-looking and intended to help guide the Port Authority in future capital expenditures and allocation of limited resources. It is not a final determination of capital improvements to be made, but a guiding document that should always be considered a work in progress.

The Port Authority engaged in a four-step process for preparation and adoption of this plan.

Step one involved an internal, detailed look at the past plan and coordination of the plans with recent Port Authority initiatives, including a 2008 plan to diversify the revenue of the Port Authority to be less reliant on existing leases by 2020.

Step two was publishing of this first draft with time for review and comment by our customers and those with an interest in the preservation and advancement of the Central Ohio Aerospace and Technology Center and the Port Authority. A listening session and public hearing was conducted at the Port Authority offices on April 7, 2009 at 2 p.m. Written comments could also be submitted.

Customers were notified of the comment period via publication in The Advocate on March 7, 2009 and in various other tenant communications, including e-newsletters and websites.

Step three was finalization of the document through incorporation of customer comments and alignment of costs, time frames, and projected revenue sources.