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Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 4:55 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 10:45 p.m.

ORMOND BEACH Despite a report that the Obama administration will keep 149 contract air traffic control towers open, officials in Ormond Beach and New Smyrna have yet to receive any word of that.

"I guess no news is good news," said Steve Brockett, manager of the control tower at Ormond Beach Municipal Airport.

In this case, however, Brockett and others were hoping for more.

For now, 149 contract towers across the nation are slated for closure June 15 as part of the Federal Aviation Administration cuts mandated by federal sequestration. But the Associated Press reported Tuesday that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had assured Washington lawmakers that the contract towers would remain open.

Congress last week passed a bill that would end furloughs at control towers manned by the FAA by allowing the federal agency to shift $253 million from an airport improvement fund. An earlier version of the bill had specified a portion of the money be used to keep the smaller control towers open, but that language was taken out at the last minute.

The furloughs have since been suspended, but the FAA as of Wednesday had not made an announcement about the contract towers.

Senators have recently sought signatures for a letter to be sent to LaHood saying their support of the legislation "was based on the understanding that the contract towers would be fully funded," the Associated Press reported.

The towers are "a vital public safety and economic development asset for dozens of communities many of them rural in every corner of the country," the letter reads.

Messages left with Washington offices for Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Ponte Vedra Beach, and Sen. Bill Nelson, were not returned.

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Airport towers still waiting for official word