Old Parts Used On Hangar Doors Cause New Headaches At Airport
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
An attempt to save the Warsaw Municipal Airport money years ago is now costing it thousands of dollars. While discussing July claims at the Warsaw Board of Aviation Commissioners Tuesday afternoon, Airport Manager Nick King pointed out a claim of $3,413.75 to Raynor Door Authority. King said the money to Raynor was for “some pretty major repairs” to a couple of the Zimmer Biomet hangar doors. Zimmer Biomet rents the hangars from the airport, and the airport maintains them. Board President Jay Rigdon asked, “Doesn’t it feel like we’re spending a lot of money on the Zimmer doors?” “All the time,” Gene Zale, board member, said. King said, “We’re looking into that problem right now. What we think has happened, and I have not heard confirmation on this yet, once I hear a final report I’ll bring it to the board, what I think has happened is those doors were replaced – they’re maybe 10 years old ... and when the new doors were installed, all of the old hardware was used on the new doors. That’s what we’re suspecting.” He said they don’t know why the old hardware was used on the new doors, but guessed it was probably to save some money, but now it’s going to cost the airport thousands. The hangar now has three brand new doors. King said he’s been working with the flight director from Biomet Zimmer and Raynor Door to figure out what the best approach is going to be to fix the problem long term. The board unanimously approved the July claims. King then reported to the board about the Indiana Guard Reserve’s request to set up a mobile intensive care unit on the northeast corner of the airport Aug. 27 from about 1 to 3 p.m. The northeast corner is at the intersection of CR 350N and Airport Road, and is outside of all the air rights so the airport doesn’t have a problem there. The Guard doesn’t have enough space at its armory to set it up properly. “It’ll be a really neat thing because it’s going to allow them to practice a drill in setting up an intensive care unit, so if there’s ever an actual disaster, and the area hospitals are disabled for whatever reason, they can set this unit up,” King said. The Guard invited several local emergency responder units. Mayor Joe Thallemer said he received an invite Tuesday. “So it’ll be something neat for the airport,” King said. “The other reason they want to host it here is, they’ve invited both Samaritan and Lutheran to fly in to practice flying in to a mobile satellite operation. They’re also working with the Indiana Guard/National Guard to bring in a Blackhawk to see what it would be like to medivac someone out as well.” King said they’ll have to set up everything the night before, but the Guard will provide 24-hour security so the airport will remain secure. The Guard doesn’t need approval from the airport to conduct the training, but King was just informing the Commission about the request. In other business: • King reported fuel sales for the year are up compared to 2015. He said things are continuing to look up and this year should be a strong year. Pilots will fly to the Warsaw airport not only for its low fuel prices but also its customer service, he said. • The board approved Rigdon, Thallemer and King to be authorized to sign checks for fuel loads and other expenses. Until Tuesday’s meeting, only former Mayor Ernie Wiggins, Rigdon and former airport manager, the late David Beall, were recognized by the bank as being authorized to sign checks. The issue was not caught until recently. King has been the airport manager for about three years. • Approved for Jim Holbrook to sign his lease of hangar 3D over to Brian Hoover. • The board approved King to spend up to $5,000 for the possible purchase of a plow truck from the Kosciusko County Highway Department. King said he has the money in his budget and the purchase is still being finalized. The airport also would provide the highway department with two pieces of equipment • The September meeting was moved to 5:15 p.m. Sept. 20 from Sept. 13.
