Airport playing waiting game

Wait.

That’s about all Portland Aviation Board can do right now when it awaits federal funding for the long-discussed runway extension project at Portland Municipal Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration has until Sept. 30 to approve the airport’s grant application, which was finalized and sent last month.

“100% funding from the FAA makes the wait worth it,” Jason Clearwaters of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s engineering firm, told the board at its meeting Wednesday.

The meeting, which lasted around 11 minutes, involved little action and was filled by updates from Clearwaters and airport manager Hal Tavzel.

HIS Constructors Inc.’s $2,398,762 bid on phase one of the project, which includes grading and drainage, was included in the nearly $3 million grant application filed last month, which the FAA is expected to pay 100%.

Clearwaters said the contractor would like to install a box culvert this year but cannot do anything until the grant application is approved.

Of the 20 airports his firm works with, only one has received approval for a grant application so far this year, Clearwaters said.

The board is also waiting to see if the airport is eligible for up to $30,000 in reimbursement under the CARES Act for operational costs.

The FAA received an influx of money from the CARES Act, which led to it offering to pay 100% of all grant projects this year.

Board members John Lyons, Clyde Bray and Faron Parr, absent Mitch Sutton, took care of some paperwork Wednesday, including:

•Approving a notice of intent to be sent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management when the project begins. The notice provides details about the runway extension project.

•Approving a resolution that allows any board member be allowed to sign off on final documents needed by the FAA after Lyons raised concerns over the exclusivity of the signature requirement.

•Paying claims of $5,053.10.

The board also heard from Tavzel that the annual Young Eagles event, where 8- to 17-year-olds can go on a ride-along with a pilot, has been canceled because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.