Apron project moves forward

If federal funding comes through, Portland’s airport will be upgraded next year.

Portland Board of Aviation on Wednesday approved accepting a Federal Aviation Administration grant if the airport is approved for funding to expand its apron.

At its June meeting, the board approved moving forward with the application for the grant funding with the low bid for the work. (The deadline for bids had been extended by a few days to allow for more bids to come in. Grant applications were due at the end of June.)

Jason Clearwaters of Butler, Fairman & Seufert, the airport’s engineering firm, explained Wednesday that there were three bids, with Kwest Group of Perrysburg, Ohio, coming lowest at $965,497.15 for the total project. (It was bid with a base project and three alternates, each of which added to the size of the apron.) In full, the project would add 57,700 square feet (1.32 acres) to the apron — the area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded or maintained.

The other bidders were The Harper Company of Hebron, Kentucky, at $1.11 million and Milestone Contractors of Richmond at $1.24 million.

Portland Municipal Airport’s FAA applications were turned in with Kwest Group as the proposed contractor. The requests are for $654,000 in FAA entitlement funds and $314,064 from the 2020 federal infrastructure bill. (In each case, Indiana Department of Transportation and the City of Portland will be required to provide a 5% match.)

If awarded, the grants would cover the cost of construction and Butler, Fairman & Seufert’s fees for overseeing the project.

Clearwaters said he expects grant awards to be announced in late August or September. Construction would follow in 2025.

Board members Faron Parr, Clyde Bray, John Ferguson and Caleb Lutes unanimously approved moving forward with the grants if they are awarded.

The board briefly discussed sources for funding for the local share of the project’s cost, including the possibility of requesting funds from Portland Redevelopment Commission.

Also, the board received an update on plans for Portland Municipal Airport hosting the Aviation Indiana quarterly meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8. 

Airport manager Hal Tavzel said 40 to 50 aviation officials from around the state are expected to attend the event, which will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Speakers for the event will include Portland Mayor Jeff Westlake, a representative from Indiana Department of Transportation, Tom Buhr of Arrow Energy, a representative from Lutheran Air, Parr, Tavzel and Clearwaters.

It will mark the first time the airport has hosted an Aviation Indiana quarterly meeting.

“It’s a really big honor for us to have the recognition from Aviation Indiana,” said Tavzel.

In other business, the board:

•Learned the airport’s annual fly-in and breakfast will be Saturday, Aug. 24. Breakfast, served by the American Legion Riders, will be from 6 to 10:30 a.m. Plane rides will be available from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a charge of $20 per person. Tavzel said he is also working on setting up an event with Young Eagles, which offers free plane rides, in September.

•Agreed to accept a bid of $302.50 per acre from Carson Hartzell for renting 26.28 acres of airport-owned land for farming, pending information about crop restrictions. (Certain areas of the property are limited to low-lying crops for safety reasons.)

•Made the final pay request on the apron expansion design grant totaling $21,430.59 and approved closeout documents for the grant. Clearwaters noted that there is a $6,735 balance remaining on the grant that will be available to the airport for future projects.

•Heard from Clearwaters that the airport is in the process of clearing up a discrepancy with the FAA that was limiting access to the runway from the east during night hours. He said FAA data was showing a tree on the east side of U.S. 27 as a possible hazard, but said that tree has been gone for at least eight years. The airport is working with the FAA to update the data.

•Heard from Tavzel that the airport sold 7,090 gallons of fuel in June for $33,656.98. That’s up from 6,210 gallons in June 2023.

•Tabled discussion of adding concrete to some hangars to allow time for Tavzel to get additional quotes.

•Approved $8,409.51 in claims.