Contracts with Tavzel, Lutheran OK'd

The airport will stay under the same leadership for another couple of years at least and the medical helicopter based there will remain as well.

Portland Board of Aviation approved contracts Monday with airport manager Hal Tavzel and Lutheran Air, extending their relationships with Portland Municipal Airport.

Tavzel's salary was raised to $40,000 per year from the current $35,000 in his new two-year contract.

Contracts with Lutheran Air for its hangar space and rental of a house just west of the airport are each for three years with two optional one-year extensions. Monthly rent is $1,850 for the hangar space and $700 for the house.

Tavzel has served as airport manager for 15 years. He also owns and operates Sonrise Aviation, which is based at Portland Municipal Airport.

Lutheran Air has had one of its medical helicopters based in Portland since 2015. At that time, the other was based at Wabash Municipal Airport. Lutheran has since added a third helicopter that flies out of Starke County Airport.

Aviation board members Faron Parr, Clyde Bray, John Ferguson and Caleb Lutes approved all three contracts unanimously.

Jason Clearwaters of engineering firm Butler, Fairman and Seufert reported that the airport is still waiting on the release of funds from the 2021 infrastructure bill that are planned to be used for the apron expansion project late this summer. He said no new Federal Aviation Administration grants have been released yet under the administration of President Donald Trump.

“I think it’s still coming,” said Clearwaters. “It’s just on hold. So we’ll continue to monitor that.”

He said that while there have been changes with FAA personnel, he has not heard of any changes to funding from the federal agency.

Clearwaters also noted that the FAA has asked the airport to complete a runway safety area inventory within the next few weeks. His firm will handle the inventory, which calls for making sure there are no holes, drainage issues, vegetation, equipment or other hazards within a radius around the airport runway.

He added that he is continuing to work on the draft agreement for the runway pavement rehabilitation project. He said he will send it out by email in advance of a planned vote at the April 16 meeting.

In other business, the board:

•Learned from Tavzel that all of the airport’s hangars are rented and there is a waiting list.

•Heard the fuel report, which indicated that the airport sold 3,681 gallons of fuel in February for $14,999.73. That’s down from 4,471 gallons in February 2024.

•Approved the payment of claims totaling $25,730.87. Clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips noted that the claims amount was higher than usual because of the purchases of new electrical equipment and lawnmowers. The new constant current regulator for the airport’s electrical system has been installed, Tavzel said. The previous equipment, which had problems that led to the airport being shut down for a few nights in September.

•Learned Tavzel will share information about the airport at the April 19 Portland Rotary Club meeting.