Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw Board of Aviation Commissioners approved Tuesday a request for proposal from Titan Aviation Fuels.
Airport Manager Nick King said Titan will provide fuel for the airport at market rate. World Fuel had previously been supplying fuel to the airport.
King, when making the recommendation to the board, said he thought Titan offered the most to the airport, most specifically they’ve got a drop-in ready self-serve fuel farm, which is “something we’ve been trying to do for almost 18 months now. And they will bring it in and drop it off, and all we need to do is hook up electrical to it.” He also mentioned Titan works with airports to try to get government contract fuel sales.
Board member John Yingling said he thought it was a good idea. He then asked what the timeframe would be to get everything installed.
King said they would move as quickly as they could, but it will be a process. He’s never changed fuel providers before, so he’s not sure how long it would take. He would like to see the self-serve fuel farm in place by Memorial Day, but he’s not sure if that will happen.
King also said there were two options of contracts: a five-year and a 10-year. He left the decision up to the board. At the end of the five-year contract, the fuel farm would be the airport’s as it’s part of Titan’s pricing structure through a flowage fee. With the 10-year contract, Titan would provide $35,000 in an upfront grant for airport improvements. The only caveat to the 10-year contract is Titan’s margin would change just a little bit.
Board member Ernie Wiggins said he and King had a conversation about if Titan was going to offer a seven-year contract. King said Titan did not offer a seven-year contract, just the five-year and 10-year.
Yingling said he would be hesitant to go with the 10-year contract. Other board members agreed.
The board approved going with the five-year contract.
King also said Titan offered to lease the airport new fueling trucks. He said the trucks are old, with one of them being 30 years old and has pumped more than 40 million gallons of fuel through it. He also brought up concerns about cost and how long it would take to get a new fuel truck.
Titan offered a 3,000-gallon jet refueler at $1,500 a month and a pad gas refueler at $750 a month, King said. Titan would offer the trucks for free for six months and then start the lease payments after that. The trucks would be offered for the term of the five-year contract.
The board approved leasing new trucks from Titan.
Runway Extension
At the end of the meeting, Kosciusko County Councilman Dave Wolkins asked about the runway extension project.
Both a long-term and a short-term fact sheet were developed. The short-term includes the tunneling of CR 100E underneath the future runway extension, with rough-cost estimates. The long-term would be the full extension of that runway/taxiway, as discussed during March’s meeting.
Tuesday, King said the FAA has never been a fan of putting a tunnel under the runway, just due to cost, “and that’s why we’re trying to get creative with other ways we can fund that project.”
King said the main issue with the runway is it isn’t long enough for some aircraft.
“We need 6,000 feet,” King said. “So everybody hears runway extension and they think that we want to extend the runways across (CR 100E).”
King added what people have to understand is the runway loses 900 feet on a good day. With bad weather, the runway loses an additional 1,000 feet. “So our runway becomes 400 feet on a night like this. So any time we have rain, snow. Any time we have inclement weather or anything else, our 6,000 runway” becomes shorter, he said.
If the runway is shortened, the airport can’t operate large aircraft.
King said they’re working on a plan to fix the issue. He added the FAA can’t force the airport to rip out the runway, but they can eliminate the airport from any federal grants until the airport becomes compliant with their standards.
The reason the FAA wants CR 100E moved is not for aircraft safety, but for public safety.
“There’s been a number of slideoffs in recent years and they don’t want a jet sliding off the roadway into cars or school buses ...,” King said.
King also discussed the changes of the types of customers the airport has seen over the years.
In other business, the board:
• Heard documentation for the runway 27 obstruction mitigation project has been submitted to the FAA and CHA Consulting, the airport’s engineering firm, is waiting for the FAA to close out the project.
• Approved advertising for bids for phase two of the runway 9-27 rehabilitation project.
• Approved a CHA invoice of $7,431 for work done in relation to the runway 9-27 rehabilitation project.
