Airport project will start Monday

The next major project at Portland’s airport will get underway next week.

Portland Board of Aviation learned Wednesday that construction on the Portland Municipal Airport apron expansion project will begin Monday.

Jason Clearwaters of engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert reported that a pre-construction meeting for the apron expansion project was held Friday, Aug. 15. He said Kwest Group will move equipment to the site on Monday and begin “moving dirt” on Tuesday.

The work involves adding 57,700 square feet to the apron — the area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded or maintained. Plans call for rehabilitating the existing apron in the next few years.

The $965,497.15 project — paid for with $654,000 in Federal Aviation Administration entitlement funds and $314,064 from the 2020 federal infrastructure bill — is expected to be complete in 75 days.

Clearwaters also informed the board that it received FAA funding for the design of a project to rehabilitate the original 4,000 feet of the airport’s runway. (It has since been lengthened to 5,500 feet.) He said survey crews are expected to be on site in mid-September, with a geotechnical firm to follow. The facility will need to be closed for one day to allow the firm to drill through the runway for soil samples.

The project, which is projected at $1.4 million, is expected to be ready for bid in spring 2026, with construction in late 2026 or 2027.

Clearwaters reminded the board that it will have infrastructure bill funds remaining after the apron expansion project is complete and asked members to consider possible uses. He noted that discussions have included replacing the airport's automated weather observing station. He added that another project to be considered moving forward is replacing runway lighting and converting to LED. (Tavzel noted the possibility of adding taxiway lighting as well.)

Those items will be discussed as the board prepares to update its capital improvement plan, which is due to the FAA by Dec. 1.

“We’re getting close,” said Clearwaters. “In another five, six years, we’ll have pretty much all the pavement either new or reconstructed or rehabbed and then if we can get to this lighting, potentially, maybe the AWOS, we’re going to get to the point where you’re in a real good spot with your air site needs.”

Airport manager Hal Tavzel also issued a reminder that the airport’s fly-in and pancake breakfast is scheduled for Saturday. Breakfast will be served from 6 to 10:30 a.m., with flights at $20 per person beginning at 8 a.m.

Also, Goodfolk & O’Tymes Biplane Rides will offer rides for $80 beginning around noon Friday and continuing Saturday.

The airport will host a Young Eagles event from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, during which free flights will be offered to ages 8 through 17.

In other business, the board:

•Approved an $11,720 contract with Sparling Corporation for cleaning the fuel tanks at the airport. Fuel will be unavailable for a few days while the tanks are being cleaned.

•Heard from Tavzel that the airport sold 10,777 gallons of fuel in July for $44,556.52. That’s down from 13,700 gallons in July 2024 and about the same as the 10,798 gallons sold in July 2023.