By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — The Warsaw Municipal Airport Board (and nearly half a dozen current and former airport managers) have been working to lower power lines east of the east-west runway for decades, and the effort is now within weeks of completion.
Nick King who has been manager of the airport for ten years, recalls hearing about an initial key letter supporting the notion written in 1986.
“It was a month and three days before I was born,” King said, putting the length of the project into perspective during a recent interview for News Now Warsaw.
Crews are in the midst of installing new shorter mono poles that will replace the more traditional-looking utility towers.
The first pole was erected earlier this week.
The $7.8 million project has been the biggest in decades for the airport and it’s all about safety.
The federal government, generating money from user fees, covered 90 percent of the cost. The state provided 5 percent. Warsaw and Kosciusko County covered the remaining portion.
The power lines are 6,000 feet off the runway but still represent a potential danger.
“Specifically, if an aircraft lost an engine on takeoff, it would be very challenging to clear those power lines and so to get those down and lower them is going to significantly increase safety around the airport,” King said.
Work crews have been focused on the site, working 12-hour shifts seven days a week in hopes of meeting the March 13 construction deadline.
On Tuesday, the first mono pole had been erected on one of several new concrete pads.
The project is unique, King said.
“Normal airport projects, we design, we set the construction schedule. We do all of that from beginning to end in-house with our engineering firm. This one’s not that way,” King said. “These are privately owned utility lines so AEP has complete control of the project: The schedule, the safety management … all of that is through AEP.”
Oddly, the power lines being lowered do not serve local customers but are part of the national power grid, King said
King and Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose, both tipped their hats to Jay Rigdon, who recently stepped down as a member of the aviation board after 35 years of service.
“He spent the better part of his career working to lower the power lines and make the airport a safer, better place,” King said.
“It’s a serious commitment,” Grose said about Rigdon’s role. “Great deal of appreciation.”
King also discussed alongside Grose upcoming airport projects as well as a newfound working relationship with Kosciusko County government officials to financially support the airport.
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