Klamath Falls council approves airport roof expansion, joint-use extension and new lease for hangar development

Klamath Falls City Council on Monday authorized three items related to the Klamath Falls airport: a $455,589 amendment to an existing roofing contract to cover additional roof areas at the main FBO hangar, a one-year extension of the airport joint-use agreement with the U.S. (to buy time while national language on PFAS is settled), and a land lease with RMC Aviation LLC for a newly constructed hangar and associated fuel facilities.

City staff said the roofing amendment would allow the project to replace the remainder of the hangar roof and adjacent lower roofs after staff identified a systemic water leak. Linda Tepper, reporting for the city, said the contractor proposed the additional work to gain efficiency and provide a single complete roof: "we do have a systemic water issue up there on the roof," and adding the east-side and lower roofs will provide "an entirely new roof structure over that hangar area, by the end of this summer." The council authorized an amendment of $455,589, bringing the total contract not to exceed $801,378.

The staff presentation said roughly $150,000 of the roofing work will be covered by an existing state core grant; some work will be completed in the current fiscal year with the remainder falling into the new fiscal year beginning July 1. Council discussion included whether it made sense to use interest earned from airport project accounts to fund improvements in the same area.

On the joint-use agreement, Tepper described negotiations with the Air National Guard and said the city receives approximately $69,000 a year under the current agreement. She told the council that recent national template changes for joint-use agreements raise liability and environmental language around PFAS in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). "They've been trying to get that hashed out nationally," she said, and the city is extending the agreement's expiration date by one year while the national template is resolved. The council authorized contract amendment number 3 to the airport joint-use agreement.

Council also approved a lease with RMC Aviation LLC for a new development parcel adjacent to the Pelican Hangar. City staff said the new building is essentially complete and will include fuel facilities; the airport receives an 8-cent-per-gallon fuel flowage fee on fuel dispensed at tenant facilities. Staff said the ground lease will generate increased annual rent and fuel flowage revenue for the airport.

All three items were approved by the council during the legislative action portion of the meeting. Motions were made and seconded and carried with aye voice votes or roll-call where recorded.

The roofing work is expected to be split between the current fiscal year (funds already identified) and the next fiscal year; the AJUA extension preserves the city’s revenue stream while national language is settled; and the RMC lease will allow the new hangar and fuel facilities to operate under the city's land-lease arrangement.