Todd Leek, a Burgess Township resident, told the Grand Forks County Commission that the Federal Aviation Administration has concluded a proposal by the UND Aerospace Foundation to add runways and related facilities at Gorman Field constitutes an airport under FAA rules, triggering an FAA review process that must be completed before construction begins.

"Right now ... it was an educational training area. Now with putting runways in, it becomes an airport. That's just how the FAA's definitions work," Leek said, summarizing the FAA field office determination. He said the finding invokes FAA procedures, including submission of the FAA form that starts the airspace review process and evaluation by the FAA airspace office.

Commissioners then heard from Brad Gerken, a representative of Grand Sky Development Company, who requested county approval to apply $2,825,000 in newly allocated state funds to existing, publicly bid contracts for additional utility work and apron pavement repairs. Gerken said the money would be used to mod existing contracts and would not be spent until the county and state finalize approvals for 2025 funding.

Gerken told the commission the overall scope had been bid at roughly $11 million, of which about $6 million was awarded in the prior funding cycle. He said the requested funds would allow the project team to complete additional utility extensions and pavement repairs. "That pavement is 60 years old out there," Gerken said, describing the ongoing repair needs on the apron.

The commission approved the request to allocate the state funds to the existing contracts. The motion passed with a recorded recusal for Commissioner Rested on the related invoice vote; otherwise the vote count was unanimous.

Leek told commissioners the FAA airspace office's determination could lead the agency to raise objections to use of the airspace. If the airspace office objects, the FAA would notify the airport office, which would then contact the project proponent (Leek said the proponent is the UND Aerospace Foundation) to resolve concerns before construction could proceed.

Gerken said the contractor currently handling bid work had been publicly procured and that additional funding would allow larger portions of the originally bid scope to be awarded and completed.

No binding FAA decisions on construction were made by the commission. Leek urged the UND Aerospace Foundation and other proponents to respond to FAA requests so the federal review can proceed.

Actions taken by the commission were limited to approving the county-side modification and allocation of the state funds to existing contracts; the FAA procedural determination remains an external federal process that must be completed before airport construction may proceed.