The board of aviation commissioners approved most items on their agenda and reviewed updates on multiple projects in a brief meeting Tuesday.
Engineer Ken Ross updated the board on a few projects. He said with the power line relocation project, a draft of the assessment has been uploaded to the Federal Aviation Administration and is being reviewed by their specialist.
He said the land acquisition grant was sent to the FAA April 2. It is currently in the hands of the Washington legislature, where they will write the grant. This process can take two to three weeks.
On April 27, Michiana will return to the airport to finish sign work and pavement markings for the guidance sign installation. The board approved two partial pay requests for the installation project. The Michiana invoice is $44,272.12 and the NGC invoice is $10,290. The FAA will pay $49,106 toward the total cost and the state will pay $2,728.11, leaving the board responsible for $2,728.01.
The board also approved a request from Warsaw Flying Club manager Jon Fussle that the club could buy fuel at a base fuel price instead of the transient price, a 20 cent difference. Fussle made the request last month.
Airport Manager Nick King said he recommended that the board accept Fussle’s request. The board was reluctant at first, but King said he recommended they approve the request.
“This would not put him back on an account,” King said. “The last few months there have been no problems with payments.”
The board denied a second request from Fussle, to place flying club signage above a hangar, because the dimensions for the signage were too large for the airport. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer suggested setting guidelines and comparing with other airports to prevent such an issue.
In other business, the board approved a 10-year extension for Alva Knouff’s land lease and also approved land leases for Bill Dean and Steve Deanda. The board also approved to move Dan Harstine’s hangar south 17 more feet for the purpose of installing propane gas instead of natural gas.
King also said that he has been working with Warsaw Fiber to hopefully access better internet and decrease the cost. He said they are still in negotiations, but if there is enough interest from residents in the Dells and Barrington Hills, it will dramatically decrease the cost of internet. Overall, King said this has been a decent month.
“We’re still sitting pretty good for the year,” King said.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for May 12 at 5:15 p.m.
(Story By The Times Union)
