Project underway

Work is underway on the latest improvement project at Portland Municipal Airport.

Local officials are looking toward plans for what comes next.

Portland Board of Aviation was updated on the facility’s apron expansion project Wednesday and discussed plans for federal funding moving forward.

Jason Clearwaters of engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert told the board Kwest Group of Perrysburg, Ohio, began work on the apron expansion last month as scheduled. Most of the preliminary work has been completed and about half of the stone is in place. He said he expects the first concrete pour to happen next week.

The $965,497 project should be complete in about 30 days, he said. It will add 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.

Board members Faron Parr, Clyde Bray, Caleb Lutes and John Ferguson approved a pay request from Kwest Group for $63,336.64, with 5% held back as retainage, for work completed from Aug. 26 through Sept. 5.

The board also approved grant reimbursement requests of:

•$53,965 from the Federal Aviation Administration and $3,553.68 from Indiana Department of Transportation for the apron project

•$3,325 from the FAA for the early stages of work on the design of a project to rehabilitate the original 4,000 feet of the airport’s runway

The board also discussed the airport’s capital improvement plan, which lays out proposed projects for the next five years. As approved last year, it calls for the apron expansion and design of the pavement upgrades this year, paving the runway in 2026, designing and reconstructing the existing apron in 2027 and 2028, respectively, and designing and constructing a wildlife control and security fence in 2029 and ’30. Those projects utilize regular FAA entitlement dollars.

Clearwaters noted that the aviation board will also have about $200,000 available from the 2021 federal infrastructure bill. 

The board discussed options for those funds, including replacing the airport's automated weather observing station and constructing a snow removal equipment building. Clearwaters noted that two other facilities he works with are currently replacing their weather systems at costs of $181,000 and $225,000, respectively.

Airport manager Hal Tavzel pointed out that the weather stations are intended to last about 15 years. The equipment at the Portland airport is 23 years old.

Board members informally agreed to make the weather equipment the priority, to be discussed again at their next meeting. Clearwaters said the last round of infrastructure bill funding is expected to be announced Oct. 1 and will be available for use after that. If the board chooses to move forward, a new weather system could be in place by the spring.

The capital improvement plan is due to the FAA by Dec. 1.

In other business, the board:

•Discussed the airport’s disadvantaged business enterprise goal for 2026 through ’28, as required by the federal government. The board agreed to set a goal of 3.1% for all federally funded projects and gave permission for Clearwaters to submit documentation to the FAA for review.

•Heard the following from Tavzel:

    —The airport sold 15,102 gallons of fuel in August for $59,486.70. That’s up by nearly 40% from 10,813 gallons in August 2024 and nearly back to the 2023 level of 15,805. He said about half of that total was from agricultural spraying and that charter flights have been busy. “Weather’s good; everybody’s flying,” he said.

    —Attendance for the annual fly-in and pancake breakfast in August was almost 300. Tavzel Aviation made 120 flights that day — it was the highest total in about 10 years — and Goodfolk & O'Tymes Biplane Rides also made more than 100.

    —The Young Eagles event on Sept. 6 drew 49 children for flights. The organization offers free flights for those from ages 8 to 17.

    —Cleaning of the airport’s fuel tanks is planned for October.

    —The largest aircraft ever to land at the airport, a 12-seat Cessna Citation Sovereign, visited within the last month.

•Was reminded by Clearwaters that the Aviation Indiana Annual Conference is scheduled for Oct. 14 through 16 in South Bend.

•Approved payment of claims totaling $585.18.