Airport Board Looks Into Feasibility Of Moving Power Lines
Posted
Daniel Riordan-driordan@timesuniononline.com
The Board Of Aviation Commissioners heard about the progress of the continuing feasibility study involving power lines near the Warsaw Airport.
Mark Shillington, Woolpert Engineering, gave the board an update on the feasibility study his company is doing on possibly moving power lines near the airport to increase the runway length.
President Jay Rigdon pressed Shillington on when the board could expect the study to be done.
Shillington said that if he could meet with Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager David Beall and corporate pilots soon, the report could be finished within 30 days.
The board approved Shillington's 2009 Capital Improvement Program report.
Shillington went over a timeline of the project should the power line project be beneficial cost-wise to the airport.
"There are constraints to this airport," said Shillington. "On hot, humid days and on days like this, pilots have to reduce their load, use less fuel or go to another airport. That has economic consequences for the airport."
During his report, Beall told the board that the airport finished the year with a $6,800 loss.
"We finished the year significantly down from 2007," said Beall. "For the first time since I've been out here, we had a negative year."
Rigdon praised Beall's efforts to minimize losses in spite of rising fuel costs, airport limitations and the cost of de-icing runways with the inclement weather in November and December.
Due to Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the airport was no longer allowed to use fertilizer to de-ice the airport's runways.
In 2008, the airport used a new form of deicer from Cryotech Deicing Technology. In December, the airport paid that company $11,000 to keep the runways safe.
Beall also gave the board the fuel usage report for December.
The board welcomed Warsaw City Councilman Joe Thallemer as the city council's representative on the board. City Councilman Kyle Babcock previously sat on the board.
The board approved a motion to keep Rigdon as the board's president and Paul Grossnickle as secretary. Gene Zale was named vice president of the board.
The board also approved the minutes from last month's meeting along with the claims.
