Hundreds of
general, corporate and commercial aircraft use the airport
every day. Myriad logistical, safety and security issues need to be
managed
to keep the airport working smoothly. Longer-range management
expertise
is required to plan for the airport’s future. And, there is an
ongoing effort to
recruit more carriers to increase the seat capacity and travel
options for
airport users.
Design is
under way for the resurfacing of
the main runway. This is a significant project that
will cost $20 million. Development of “T-hangars”
on the southwest area off the airfield also is under
way at a cost of $1.4 million. Negotiations are
ongoing for ramp access and a corporate aviation
hangar for a local company whose executives
depend on flying in and out of DBIA. A new
instrument landing system is planned for runway
25.When complete, the airport will have full
coverage on its primary runway for operations
under conditions of limited visibility.
“These and
other projects, such as land use
planning and negotiating leases, are important to
the success of Daytona Beach International
Airport and to Volusia County,” said Karl.
Karl’s role as
airport director is only part of
his new responsibilities with Volusia County
Government. County Manager Dinneen also
tapped him as the new director of a newly
organized/expanded department that includes
three divisions—DBIA, economic development
and coastal management.
“The airport
staff is outstanding and
manages the facility with great efficiency and
effectiveness,” said Karl. “It is a credit to each
member of the staff and to former airport
director Dennis McGee, who built the team and
saw the facility grow from a sleepy small city
airport to a technologically-advanced airport with
the third highest level of aircraft operations in the
state.”
His confidence
in the county’s Economic
Development Division is equally strong.
“Economic
Development Director Phil Ehlinger and his staff have been
very effective in building a strong countywide economic development
program,” said Karl. “As the department welcomes the business
community
into the process, I am certain our countywide competitive profile
will
remain strong.”
The Coastal
Management Division includes beach vehicle access fee
collections, concessionaire management, beachfront parks, overpasses
and
approaches and the port authority.
Besides his
legal and business experience, Karl brings unique
perspective to his duties, being a fourth generation Volusia County
resident
whose family has played a key role in the positive growth and
development
of the community.
His great
grandfather, John Brennan, a banker from Michigan, moved to
Florida during the land boom in the 1920s. His grandmother, Mary
Karl, was
a leader in education who founded the Opportunity School in Daytona
Beach. The school later became the Volusia Vocational School and
ultimately, following her death, the Mary Karl Vocational School. In
1957,
that school became the newly commissioned Daytona Beach Junior
College,
which became Daytona Beach Community College in 1971 and Daytona
State College in 2008.
Karl’s father,
Fred Karl, served in the Florida Legislature and the Florida
Senate and was the last elected Justice of the Florida Supreme
Court. The
senior Karl also served as the Hillsborough County Attorney, County
Manager, and City Attorney for the City of Tampa.
