Airport board approves $2,183 ASOS digitization to restore Gardiner automated weather system

The Park County Airport Board approved a $2,183 expenditure to update and digitize Gardiner’s aging automated weather reporting equipment (referred to in the meeting as a Super AWOS conversion). The operator explained the present system uses old storage media and needs a new digital control module; updating will allow the station to output digital weather information.

An airport staff member provided a cost estimate of $2,183 to reprogram and digitize the system and said money is available in airport funds retained after the runway repaving project. “It’s over $2,100 and that’s to redo the system, digitize it, output it, and reprogram it. Everything should be set to go,” the staff member said. The board voted in favor of moving forward and using the runway repaving retained funds for the work.

Board members discussed shipping and handling costs for returning the old unit and confirmed the appropriation comes from airport funds. No additional details on vendor timelines were provided at the meeting; staff said they will proceed and return updates as work progresses.

Action taken: board approved the $2,183 expenditure to digitize Gardiner’s ASOS/Super system, to be paid from retained runway repaving funds.

Why it matters: Restoring digital automated weather reporting improves safety and flight planning for pilots using Gardiner and supports more reliable operational decisions for transient and based aircraft.

Next steps: Airport staff will complete the purchase and installation, return the old hardware as needed and report progress to the board.