Port District works on airport plan

Airport officials have started the process of updating their master plan.

Grant County Port District 7 commissioners, who manage the 4,200-foot paved runway airport operation, broke down the requirements of the plan at their last meeting.

The update is required by the Federal Aviation Administration and involves work that could be done looking out 20 years.

The Port District will have Coffman Associates, a national airport master plan firm, provide information that will give commissioners a negotiating edge as work moves forward.

Recently the Port District hired J-U-B Engineers, out of Spokane, as the firm that will do the work; the action of Coffman will aid commissioners in getting the best deal in the bidding process.

The FAA requires that a separate pair of eyes look at elements of the plan and provide their findings to the commissioners.

When projects are approved, the FAA provides 90 percent of the funding, the Washington State Department of Transportation (Airport Division) 5 percent, and the Port District puts up the remaining 5 percent of the project funding.

Port District President Jim Keene said that updating the airport’s master plan is a long process that could take them into next year.

The latest project at the airport is near completion. In September, a project to fill cracks on the airport runway and provide new striping got underway.

The $240,000 project was awarded to Road Products, Inc., out of Spokane. With engineering costs, the project is at $288,759. The runway crack sealing has been completed, and the firm is waiting for warmer weather to do the striping.

The commissioners had been dealing with major cracking at a number of places on the paved runway that became a major concern. The crack repair and sealing part of the project took about 30 days, but cooler weather set in before striping could be done.