Long-term effort

It’s been a long road — or, more appropriately, flight — for the City of Portland to have a longer runway at its airport.

First seriously discussed by the city’s board of aviation in 1999, there’s been more uncertainty than clarity on the proposed multi-million dollar runway extension from 4,000 feet to 5,500 feet at Portland Municipal Airport and how it would be paid for.

Years passed without a clear answer on what a runway extension would even look like until the Federal Aviation Administration first awarded a grant for design of the first phase of the project in 2017.

Throughout those decades, however, none of the aviation board members, city employees and airport regulars could’ve reasonably expected that, once the project is completed in 2022 as projected, the city would only end up having to pay an estimated $70,281 — about 1.84% — of the total projected $3,804,378 tab.

The smaller-than-expected Portland payout can be attributed to a low bid for phase one construction from Indianapolis contractor HIS Constructors Inc. and, oddly enough, the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress near the start of the pandemic.

The CARES Act required the Federal Aviation Administration to pay 100% of any capital improvement project it was involved with in the previous fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

Less than a week before the Sept. 30 deadline and months after the Portland airport submitted an application, the FAA announced a new set of grants that included $2.4 million for phase one — grading and drainage — of the runway extension project.

The grant announcement came as a surprise to Jason Clearwaters, airport production manager at Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s engineering firm, who told the aviation board not to expect the project to be funded until late 2021 at the earliest.

The FAA even announced that the airport was awarded $341,623 in grants on Sept. 1, leaving Clearwaters to believe the FAA ran out of funds in fiscal year 2020 for non-essential projects, he said.

Funding for phase two of the runway project — paving and lighting — may prove to be less complicated. Clearwaters said, based on his experience and conversations with an FAA adviser, that since the FAA awarded money for phase one of the project in September, it will see it as a higher priority to award a grant for phase two by the end of the current fiscal year, so the entire project can be completed as scheduled.

“At this time, we expect 90% federal funding (for phase two),” said Katie England, capital planner at Butler, Fairman and Seufert.

If that holds true, the airport should expect to pay for 5%, an estimated $70,281, of the second phase of the project. Under the traditional 90-5-5 split, the FAA pays for 90% of any capital improvement project and Portland and Indiana Department of Transportation each pay for 5% of the tab.

If it weren’t for the CARES Act, Portland would’ve had to pay about $119,937 for phase one of the runway extension. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that a similar measure from the CARES Act is carried over to the current fiscal year as the coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing.

The runway extension is intended to increase use of the airport by allowing larger aircraft enough space to land and take off.

In 2014, a justification study showed the airport could expect nearly 400 additional flights each year if the runway was extended to 5,500 feet. It included letters from local businesses, including POET Biorefining and Sonoco, that said they would use the facility more often.

Clearwaters explained at the time that 5,000 feet is the magic number for runways and that the extension would allow corporation jets to use the airport on a regular basis. At that time, the facility was averaging about 10 such flights a year because conditions had to be perfect in order for larger plans to land on a 4,000-foot runway.

The FAA approved the justification study in January 2015, clearing the path for the project to move forward.

The airport has another impending deadline in February, this time from INDOT, to submit a new five-year capital improvement plan. England presented the aviation board with a draft of such a plan at its meeting last week.

Around the same time the runway extension project is completed in 2022, England’s firm plans to present preliminary designs for the airport’s next million dollar project: a new terminal apron.

A new terminal apron, which would provide more parking and ease of access to a plane’s cargo, is projected to cost $1,728,226 according to England’s draft of the newest capital improvement plan. Based on that cost, Portland would end up paying for about $86,411 of the tab under the traditional 90-5-5 split.

According to the plan, which runs from now until fiscal year 2025, the terminal apron is projected to be completed in fiscal year 2024. Of course, like the runway extension project, a new terminal apron is contingent on FAA awarding grants totaling around $1.35 million.

England, the aviation board and airport manager Hal Tavzel also discussed possibly adding new LED lights for the runway to the capital improvement plan at the board meeting in November, the last one scheduled for this year. Preliminary design would begin around the same time as the terminal apron project, assuming the FAA awards funds in future years.

Other projects on the capital improvement plan include the addition of a fence to keep wildlife from entering the runway — it is expected to be completed beyond the end of the five-year plan — and the construction of a new T-hangar.

Portland Board of Aviation will not meet in December. It is expected to vote on a finalized version of the capital improvement plan in January, after which it will be submitted to INDOT.