Airport Layout Plan Complete; East Powerlines To Be Lowered
October 9, 2019 at 1:56 a.m.
By David [email protected]
Ken Ross, NGC Aviation Consultants, said, “Last month, we told you about the runway powerlines, all the planning being complete. This month, we can confirm that the airport layout plan is now finalized and complete.”
The airport is looking to have the powerlines lowered on the east side.
He said that on Sept. 30, FAA Program Manager Gary Wilson reported he had signed the plan’s title sheet and issued the approval letter, but a revised one was sent Oct. 1.
The letter is a standard one that the FAA calls “conditional approval, which basically means we’ve run the airspace, we approve it, however, you still have some things to do before we can fund things,” Ross explained.
Things the Warsaw Municipal Airport has left to do include “environmental reviews and airspaces and all those good things,” he said.
But now that the Warsaw airport has the letter, Ross said, “We now consider that planning project complete.”
Wilson also sent Ross and Airport Manager Nick King a copy of the grant “Airflow Improvements Proposal-12” closure letter.
“The next step is, we’re in, we’re ready, in line for the funding for the roadway rehab; we’re in line for the powerline lowering project in 2021,” Ross said. “The next project after that was the starting to recover the displaced threshold. This spring, we should be done with the environmental assessment because that has to be done before Sept. 30 in 2021 in order to qualify for 2022 funding. We’ll be a full year ahead of schedule on that one.”
Ross said everything was good and the airport was in good shape.
“We’re very happy for a change,” Ross said.
In other business, the board:
• Heard from King that fuel usage has continued to be flat for the month and is still down 115,000 gallons from where it was last year. He thinks that by year’s end, the airport fuel sales may be down anywhere from 115,000 to 140,000 short of where it was last year.
“It’s a slower economy. It’s not just Warsaw. Most (smaller) airports across the state are having lower fuel sales than they have in the past,” King said. “But again, because of the price restructuring and the flattening of that, our revenue has stayed flat.”
Board President Jay Rigdon noted gross revenue is up slightly, but that’s not revenue.
The merger of Zimmer and Biomet several years ago has continued to affect fuel sales at the airport, King said. Fuel pricing also can fluctuate 17 to 30 cents in a day. The airport has not received any complaints about its fuel prices from customers, however, he said.
• Approved the sale of hangar 6I from Red Knouff to Mark Fox for $9,000. King said he supported the sale “100%.”
“It’ll be very sad to not have Red as an airport tenant anymore. We just celebrated Red’s 96th birthday two months ago, so he’s been at the airport for a lot of years. He actually gave me my first airplane ride when I was a little kid, so it means a lot to me,” King said.
Rigdon joked that Knouff may have given the Wright brothers their first airplane ride.
• Heard that Av8r Flying Club was going to make about $4,500 in improvements to its hangar. King will write out a lease to adjust the club’s hangar rent to offset the costs of those improvements, as requested by Jason Slabach, Av8r Flying Club. The suggested lease would be for $150-$200 a year for three to four years. The board will vote on the lease after its presented to them at a later meeting.
• Approved for Alan Hoover to assign his Hangar 2 building and all the assets in it to his son, Brian. Alan is not living in town anymore, and Brian would like to take the ownership over. King also said Brian would make improvements to the building. The current lease ends in 2023, but King said it would be easier to provide Brian with a new lease.
• Heard the next meeting is at 5:15 Nov. 12 in the city council chambers.
Ken Ross, NGC Aviation Consultants, said, “Last month, we told you about the runway powerlines, all the planning being complete. This month, we can confirm that the airport layout plan is now finalized and complete.”
The airport is looking to have the powerlines lowered on the east side.
He said that on Sept. 30, FAA Program Manager Gary Wilson reported he had signed the plan’s title sheet and issued the approval letter, but a revised one was sent Oct. 1.
The letter is a standard one that the FAA calls “conditional approval, which basically means we’ve run the airspace, we approve it, however, you still have some things to do before we can fund things,” Ross explained.
Things the Warsaw Municipal Airport has left to do include “environmental reviews and airspaces and all those good things,” he said.
But now that the Warsaw airport has the letter, Ross said, “We now consider that planning project complete.”
Wilson also sent Ross and Airport Manager Nick King a copy of the grant “Airflow Improvements Proposal-12” closure letter.
“The next step is, we’re in, we’re ready, in line for the funding for the roadway rehab; we’re in line for the powerline lowering project in 2021,” Ross said. “The next project after that was the starting to recover the displaced threshold. This spring, we should be done with the environmental assessment because that has to be done before Sept. 30 in 2021 in order to qualify for 2022 funding. We’ll be a full year ahead of schedule on that one.”
Ross said everything was good and the airport was in good shape.
“We’re very happy for a change,” Ross said.
In other business, the board:
• Heard from King that fuel usage has continued to be flat for the month and is still down 115,000 gallons from where it was last year. He thinks that by year’s end, the airport fuel sales may be down anywhere from 115,000 to 140,000 short of where it was last year.
“It’s a slower economy. It’s not just Warsaw. Most (smaller) airports across the state are having lower fuel sales than they have in the past,” King said. “But again, because of the price restructuring and the flattening of that, our revenue has stayed flat.”
Board President Jay Rigdon noted gross revenue is up slightly, but that’s not revenue.
The merger of Zimmer and Biomet several years ago has continued to affect fuel sales at the airport, King said. Fuel pricing also can fluctuate 17 to 30 cents in a day. The airport has not received any complaints about its fuel prices from customers, however, he said.
• Approved the sale of hangar 6I from Red Knouff to Mark Fox for $9,000. King said he supported the sale “100%.”
“It’ll be very sad to not have Red as an airport tenant anymore. We just celebrated Red’s 96th birthday two months ago, so he’s been at the airport for a lot of years. He actually gave me my first airplane ride when I was a little kid, so it means a lot to me,” King said.
Rigdon joked that Knouff may have given the Wright brothers their first airplane ride.
• Heard that Av8r Flying Club was going to make about $4,500 in improvements to its hangar. King will write out a lease to adjust the club’s hangar rent to offset the costs of those improvements, as requested by Jason Slabach, Av8r Flying Club. The suggested lease would be for $150-$200 a year for three to four years. The board will vote on the lease after its presented to them at a later meeting.
• Approved for Alan Hoover to assign his Hangar 2 building and all the assets in it to his son, Brian. Alan is not living in town anymore, and Brian would like to take the ownership over. King also said Brian would make improvements to the building. The current lease ends in 2023, but King said it would be easier to provide Brian with a new lease.
• Heard the next meeting is at 5:15 Nov. 12 in the city council chambers.
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