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City and airport officials have been trying to get the high voltage power lines and towers that interfere with landing operations at the Warsaw Municipal Airport from the east lowered for over 35 years.
During the Warsaw Board of Aviation Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Airport Manager Nick King provided an update.
“We had a meeting with American Electric Power last week, and that was to discuss the power line project and where we were with that. To see if there were any technologies available,” King said.
He said they were looking at some smaller overhead powerline structures, but AEP has to do some engineering to see if they would support the electrical loads those lines carry.
“That’s why we’re not sure whether or not those would be used. If we can use them, they are a smaller structure and they’re monopole so the cost – as far as footings, cement and everything else that is concerned – is much less. So once they decide whether or not they can use these structures, we may see actually costs decrease in getting those power lines lowered,” King said.
The next step he and Ken Ross, engineer with NGC Aviation Consultants, are working on is with senators, congressman and their aides to see “what potential federal level funding can we use outside of the FAA for this project. We don’t know that there are any possibilities for that, but if there are, we definitely want to make sure we explored every avenue.”
After the meeting, King said there are no grants or engineering in place yet for the project. “We need a cost estimate before we can get into the project because AEP has to do the work. The FFA has grants available,” he said.
In other business, the aviation commissioners:
• Approved November claims.
King highlighted the $35,336.25 claim from Pavement Solutions for the crack sealing for the runways.
“We got both the East/West, North/South and all three taxiways crack sealed and we are working with the city for the 2018 bid cycle so that we can get this type of pricing next year,” he said.
Originally, for the $35,000 budgeted for crack sealing for 2017, King said they thought they’d be able to get three-fourths of one runway done. “And the amount we were actually able to get done with the bidding, that the city got with the bulk bidding for the crack seal, was just incredible,” he said.
For next year, King said he hoped to get similar pricing to do crack sealing on the ramp and smaller taxiways, and maybe some other areas.
• Heard the Capital Improvement Program update is due to the state and FAA by Feb. 1.
• Approved a contract renewal with DBT, the company that does the maintenance for the airport’s instrument landing and weather systems. The cost for the 2018 contract did go up $2,000 to $18,478, but King said that hadn’t increased since 2015.
• Approved the Zimmer Biomet hangar lease extension. The company’s lease ended Dec. 31, but the extension will allow time for a new lease to be negotiated.
• Approved the lease for Hangar 126.
King said the hangar belonged to the late City Councilman Charlie Smith, who died in an airplane crash Oct. 2, 2015.
“His estate has finalized and his son, Ryan, and his daughter, Michele, will be taking over the lease for that hangar. His estate had been paying the annual land lease on that as it was finalized, so all this is a new lease in the name of Ryan C. Smith and Michele Smith LeDrew, with the board of aviation commissioners,” King explained.
He said the lease terms were the same, but with new tenants.
Also killed in that airplane crash were Charlie’s other son, Scott Smith; Tony Elliott and Scott Bibler. They were flying to a Notre Dame-Clemson football game.
