Townsend airport board amends CIP, pushes snow-removal work earlier as FAA-funded apron work advances

The Townsend Airport Board on Tuesday reviewed construction activity at the airport and approved changes to the airport capital improvement plan that move snow-removal equipment and a storage building earlier in the schedule while delaying an AWOS weather station and land acquisition and removing a fuel-system replacement from the CIP.

Board members heard a construction update from Lance Bowser of Robert Peischen Associates, who said the FAA-funded apron expansion has a notice to proceed and crews have moved equipment onto the site. Bowser said grant offers from the FAA are on a temporary hold while the agency changes some grant language and grant assurances, and that one original grant award came out roughly $150,000 short of the amount the project team had requested. “The FAA doesn’t know why. They put in for the amount and when it came out, it it was a hundred and $50,000 short,” Bowser said. He told the board the shortfall may affect available FAA funding in 2026 and would be discussed again as staff finalizes the CIP.

Why it matters: The apron expansion is the active construction item tied to multiple FAA and state funding pots. Changes in grant language and an unexplained $150,000 variance could reduce available discretionary FAA funds for other planned projects the board had scheduled in upcoming years.

Most important details

- Construction: Bowser said the contractor received…