February 18, 2021 at 6:37 p.m.
Dirt source selected
Airport hopes to repurpose ground to be cleared for pond
Dirt source selected
Portland Municipal Airport has a better idea of where it’s going to get the dirt needed to extend its runway.
Now it just has to be approved by Jay County’s zoning board.
Portland Board of Aviation at its meeting Wednesday voted to recommend that contractor HIS Constructors Inc. purchase dirt from a nearby property owned by Greg Whitenack.
The dirt would come from his property at 1338 W. 100 North, Portland, and would be cleared for the expansion of Whitenack’s pond at that site. The pond is currently about 20,000 square feet and Whitenack is looking to expand it to be about 10 times that, said Jason Clearwaters of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s engineering firm.
Dirt made available from such an expansion is planned to be transported about a mile east to the runway construction site at the airport. First, however, the pond expansion must be approved by the Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Getting the dirt from nearby will be efficient but also would reduce the amount of time truckloads of dirt would be transported on county roads if soil came from somewhere further away, Clearwaters said.
A risk that had to be considered was that the pond expansion could possibly attract more wildlife that may make its way to the airport, but that’s an unlikely scenario due to the pond’s distance from the airport, according to Clearwaters.
Any purchase would be covered by HIS Constructors since money for buying dirt was included in the contract awarded to the company in 2020 to complete phase one — grading and drainage — of the nearly $3 million runway extension from 4,000 feet to 5,500 feet.
Construction for that project is expected to get underway in early May, Clearwaters said.
About 140,000 cubic yards of dirt is needed to complete the project.
In other business, board members Clyde Bray, Faron Parr, Mitch Sutton and John Lyons:
•Signed off on the Federal Aviation Administration’s grant oversight risk assessment forms for 2021 through 2024. The oversight, required by the FAA every three years, is virtually unchanged from the previous contract, Clearwaters said.
•Heard from airport manager Hal Tavzel that the airport has sold 4,176 gallons of fuel since the start of January for $13,184.
•Paid $1,024.98 in claims.
Now it just has to be approved by Jay County’s zoning board.
Portland Board of Aviation at its meeting Wednesday voted to recommend that contractor HIS Constructors Inc. purchase dirt from a nearby property owned by Greg Whitenack.
The dirt would come from his property at 1338 W. 100 North, Portland, and would be cleared for the expansion of Whitenack’s pond at that site. The pond is currently about 20,000 square feet and Whitenack is looking to expand it to be about 10 times that, said Jason Clearwaters of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s engineering firm.
Dirt made available from such an expansion is planned to be transported about a mile east to the runway construction site at the airport. First, however, the pond expansion must be approved by the Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Getting the dirt from nearby will be efficient but also would reduce the amount of time truckloads of dirt would be transported on county roads if soil came from somewhere further away, Clearwaters said.
A risk that had to be considered was that the pond expansion could possibly attract more wildlife that may make its way to the airport, but that’s an unlikely scenario due to the pond’s distance from the airport, according to Clearwaters.
Any purchase would be covered by HIS Constructors since money for buying dirt was included in the contract awarded to the company in 2020 to complete phase one — grading and drainage — of the nearly $3 million runway extension from 4,000 feet to 5,500 feet.
Construction for that project is expected to get underway in early May, Clearwaters said.
About 140,000 cubic yards of dirt is needed to complete the project.
In other business, board members Clyde Bray, Faron Parr, Mitch Sutton and John Lyons:
•Signed off on the Federal Aviation Administration’s grant oversight risk assessment forms for 2021 through 2024. The oversight, required by the FAA every three years, is virtually unchanged from the previous contract, Clearwaters said.
•Heard from airport manager Hal Tavzel that the airport has sold 4,176 gallons of fuel since the start of January for $13,184.
•Paid $1,024.98 in claims.
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