News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
A3
Airport master plan nearing completion
Public input
taken for
conceptual
20-year plan
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eagle file photos
A new master plan is being created for the Grant County Regional Airport, pictured here.
9/27 will be lengthened to
the northwest to make up for
the difference.
One proposed change in-
volves siting for the Forest
Service’s single-engine air
tankers (SEAT), which re-
semble crop dusters. There
are concerns that the fire-
fighting aircraft damage oth-
er planes by spraying loose
gravel with their strong pro-
peller wash.
One idea in the concep-
tual master plan is to move
the SEAT planes west of
Runway 17/35 with a new
taxiway to separate them
from the hangars north of the
main terminal.
Grant County currently
is seeking $469,996 from
the FAA and $47,000 from
COAR to address deteriorat-
ing aprons near the current
SEAT base area. The fund-
ing would pay for design and
engineering work that could
take place in 2019, Lundbom
said.
The Forest Service leas-
es most of the airport space,
and lease negotiations be-
tween the county and the
Forest Service will take
place this year.
Runway 17/35 is 5,220
feet long, 60 feet short of
a mile, a “magic number”
for aircraft safety concerns,
Lundbom said. Lengthening
the runway another 60 feet,
A worker with TaylorNW, the Bend contractor to rebuild a
runway at Grant County Regional Airport, runs a rotomill
to crush the asphalt on the east-west runway, filling a
dump truck in this file photo from 2014.
however, may be difficult
because of steep terrain and
a public road at each end.
Runway 9/27 is 4,471
feet long. It was extended
950 feet in 2008 and was
rebuilt in summer 2014 with
a new base and asphalt.
Three-quarters of the fund-
ing for the $2 million project
came from ConnectOregon,
with the rest coming from
the FAA.
Grant County Regional
Airport was constructed in
1961 with one paved 4,500-
foot north-south runway and
one gravel east-west runway.
The terminal consisted of a
1,500-square-foot two-bed-
room home that also served
as the administrative office.
Runway lights and a beacon
were added in 1962.
A $5.3 million terminal
was completed in September
2010. The Forest Service,
which had been operating
out of several deteriorat-
ing and cramped modular
buildings at the airport for
more than 30 years, now
occupies the second floor
of the 17,752-square-foot
terminal.
Funding for the terminal
project came from the FAA,
ConnectOregon and the
Forest Service. Some taxi-
way work, a ramp and some
fencing were included in the
overall project.
Grant County Regional Airport in John Day was busy
with aircraft coming and going and refueling for all the
wildfire activity in the area in August 2015.
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36628
GUHS Volleyball Championship Celebration!
We would like to give a huge
heartfelt thank you to all who had a
part in the bake sale fundraiser for
Tanner. The proceeds will go towards
medical expenses. Thank you to each
and every one who helped with
organizing it, for their time and
effort. Thank you for making the
delicious baked items and to those
who purchased them. Your support
is deeply appreciated.
40351
A two-year process to
develop a 20-year master
plan for the Grant County
Regional Airport is wind-
ing down, according to Ron
Lundbom, John Day mayor
and Grant County Regional
Airport Commission chair-
man.
The 20-year plan is con-
ceptual only and must go
through a public process
that could be finalized by
the end of March. T-O En-
gineering of Boise, Idaho,
has been taking input from
pilots, the Forest Service
and other community stake-
holders since 2015 to deter-
mine what type of airport is
needed, based on the kinds
of aircraft that have used the
airport in the past and might
use the airport in the future.
Taxiways already exist for
development of future han-
gars north of the main ter-
minal.
A ConnectOregon grant
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation paid
for the master plan, which
the airport needs to qualify
for Federal Aviation Admin-
istration money.
“The airport so far has
received about $10 mil-
lion from ConnectOregon,”
Lundbom said, adding that
in a twist, “FAA money
served as a match for the
ConnectOregon
money,”
instead of the other way
around.
Another source of fund-
ing for airports is the Critical
Oregon Airport Relief pro-
gram, which is funded by an
increase in aircraft fuel taxes
in 2015. COAR money can
be used for engineering, de-
sign and construction of run-
ways, taxiways and aircraft
parking areas at public-use
airports in Oregon.
The Grant County Re-
gional Airport master plan
will address various safe-
ty-related issues, includ-
ing airspace encroachment
issues and fencing to keep
out deer, Lundbom said.
One goal is to move the
airport’s two underground
fuel tanks to the surface
to address environmental
concerns.
Because of FAA concerns
about runways that criss-
cross, Grant County’s two
runways eventually must be
“decoupled,” Lundbom said.
When that happens, Runway
The Moodenbaugh Family
The public is invited to stop in and congratulate the
GU Lady Pros on their OSAA 2A Volleyball Championship Title!
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Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
Sunday, February 18, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
40393
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40522
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