Replacing runway lights

New runway end lights will be ordered as soon as possible.

Other projects are moving forward as well.

Portland Board of Aviation on Wednesday approved the purchase and installation of new runway end lights while also addressing apron expansion and runway paving projects.

Airport manager Hal Tavzel explained to the board that there was a failure with teh runway end lights at the east side of  Portland Municipal Airport last week. While Brown Electric of Bluffton got the lights working again, Tavzel said the firm also recommended replacing the units that are about 25 years old. 

The lights — strokes that guide pilots to the runway in inclement weather — have had recurring problems.

Jason Clearwaters of engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert estimated that the new lights could cost up to $15,000.

Board members Faron Parr, Clyde Bray, Caleb Lutes and John Ferguson discussed options, ultimately asking Clearwaters to assist in getting quotes. Rather than waiting until their next meeting, they approved allowing Clearwaters and Tavzel to move forward with the lowest quote (not to exceed $15,000) in an effort to get the lights replaced as soon as possible.

Clearwaters suggested that a lighting project for the original 4,000 feet of the 5,500-foot runway should be considered for addition to the facility’s capital improvement plan.

He also noted that a grant application for the airport’s $137,000 in funding for this year from the 2021 federal infrastructure bill was turned in last week. That money will go toward the airport’s apron expansion project, which is expected to get underway late this summer.

Clearwaters said a pre-construction meeting for the project will likely be held in late spring.

Also, a grant application for traditional Federal Aviation Administration funding is due April 28. The airport plans to seek funding for design of its pavement improvements for the runway.

The board also approved the purchase of a new mower from Hull Brothers of Fort Recovery at a cost of $17,000 after trade in.

In other business, the board:

•Heard the following from Tavzel:

   —the airport sold 4,281 gallons of fuel in December for $17,348.90. That’s down from 6,002 gallons in December 2023.

   —the new electric vault for the airport is expected to be delivered at the end of the month and installed soon after. (A problem with the existing box led to the airport’s runway being shut down for several nights in September, which prompted the board to consider replacing the equipment.)

•Following a question from Ferguson, heard that Parr received a phone call from Celina, Ohio, resident Tim Homan regarding his interest in building a hangar at the airport. Parr said he recommended a site to the east of the terminal near other hangars. He said he’s hopeful a site to the west of the airport parking lot will be able to attract a larger project once the apron expansion project is complete this year.

•Learned from Clearwaters that replacing the airport’s 20-plus-year-old automated weather observation system would cost between $180,000 and $225,000, based on recent projects he had bid for other facilities.

•Approved payment of claims totaling $2,714.68.