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Airport board asks Montana Aeronautics to review runway threshold after hangar expansion request
Summary
Airport tenant Jake Magalski reported a series of maintenance needs and requested a 30-foot hangar addition. Board members asked Montana Aeronautics staff to review a proposal to displace the runway threshold and return with a safety recommendation; no formal vote was taken.
At its meeting, the Park County Airport Board heard from tenant Jake Magalski about maintenance issues at the field and his request to add about 30 feet to his hangar to fit two airplanes.
Magalski opened with maintenance items he said need low-cost attention: “Our new windsock is no longer new. It's 2 years old, and it's, it's pretty well shredded,” and pockets of failing fence posts where elk and livestock have been crossing the runway area. He also reported gopher holes on the turf and said he was willing to do minor repairs if the board supplied materials. Magalski asked the board to consider his hangar addition after he said staff had denied an earlier request out of concern the expansion could encroach on a runway threshold area.
The central safety issue discussed was whether the board could displace the runway threshold to preserve landing distance while allowing a hangar expansion. Lance Bouser of the Montana Aeronautics Division told the board that the airport’s published records and charts would need updating if the threshold moved. “The current runway is 3,100 feet,” Bouser said. “If we move the threshold down a hundred and make it an even 3,000-foot runway … you’d have to report the declared distances for landing available and takeoff available.” He advised the board to submit a drawn proposal to Montana Aeronautics before making physical changes so the declared distances can be updated for pilots.
Board members discussed options including shortening the runway threshold by roughly 100 feet to increase the buffer between a hangar and the landing surface or siting an addition to the west where property lines might give more clearance. The board agreed that Magalski should provide the detailed infographic he referenced and that Bouser would review the exact dimensions and send a written recommendation before the board takes formal action. No formal motion or binding vote was taken at the meeting; members treated Magalski’s presentation largely as a report because the hangar modification item was not listed in the published agenda for action.
The board indicated it will revisit the matter when Bouser’s recommendation and Magalski’s detailed measurements are available. In the meantime, Magalski also requested materials for routine maintenance tasks such as replacing rotten fence posts and repairing the windsock.
