A federal grant will help fund the improvement of a runway at the Butler County Regional Airport.

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration resources will provide a $154,674 grant for the Butler County Regional Airport, according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

“Butler County Regional Airport provides important travel services to Hamilton-area business travelers, flight students, and visitors,” Brown said Thursday. “This funding will improve the safety and efficiency of the airport so it can remain a reliable option for air travelers in Southwest Ohio.”

The funding also will remove obstructions in the runway approach surface at the airport.

“We’re in need of repairs on the parallel taxiway and on the ramp and the obstruction removal,” said Ron Davis, the airport’s administrator. “In order to continue our growth or even to continue to offer a quality airport to the aviation users of this region, we need this money in order to maintain the facility.”

The grant money comes from the Airport Improvement Program, a U.S. federal grant program that provides funds to airports to help improve safety and efficiency. The program is supported by the taxes and fees associated with aviation, Davis said.

This year’s grant is “fairly typical” in terms of the size of grant the airport receives, he said.

Although the grant money has been announced, the airport has yet to complete the bid process, Davis said.

“We expect to receive those funds, but we have yet to go to the formal grant application process but obviously the funds are going to be there for our use,” he said.

The airport is required to have the paperwork completed by Aug. 10, Davis said.

“Once we receive the bids, we have to go through to see who is the lowest bidder, see what the total cost is going to be,” he said. “If it comes out to $200,000, we’re only going to have $150,000-plus to be able to do the project, so we’ll modify the scope of the project.”

The grant money would then be used to reimburse the county for its expenses for the project, Davis said.