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Yakima seeks FAA grant for baggage claim; state money will fund overflow parking
Summary
City staff sought council authorization to apply for a $1 million FAA terminal modernization grant for a baggage-claim project, while lobbyists said the state budget funded $750,000 for airport overflow parking; a solar canopy grant application was not awarded and staff are reworking financing.
The Yakima City Council on Tuesday authorized staff to apply for a $1 million Federal Aviation Administration grant to fund a baggage-claim modernization at the Yakima Air Terminal–McAllister Field and heard that the state provided $750,000 for a separate overflow parking project.
Airport Director Rob Hodgman asked the council to approve a grant application to the FAA’s Airport Terminal Program for $1 million for the baggage-claim project. Hodgman said the project will be built from a mix of federal grants and local seed funds and that some savings from a roof and HVAC project had been applied to the baggage-claim work.
“We have $1,100,000 from that first grant that's available and being applied to the baggage claim project,” Hodgman said. He added that the baggage-carousel equipment has a long lead time and that, if the FAA grant is awarded, construction of the baggage-claim room, family lounge and restrooms could begin in late July or early August.
Earlier in the meeting, lobbyist Luke Gessler said the legislature funded $750,000 for a new overflow parking lot at the airport, calling it the city’s top aviation priority. Hodgman said preliminary design work is under way and that county seed funds provided a $100,000 match for the overflow parking project; construction funds become available July 1.
Hodgman also reported that the airport did not receive a state grant for a solar canopy project, which changes the financing dynamics. “We did not get the grant,” he said, and city staff are evaluating options to move the canopy project forward.
Council members approved the staff motion to submit the FAA grant application; the motion passed on a roll-call vote recorded 7-0. Hodgman said he expects to return in about a month with additional grant applications and that some elements of the terminal modernization will be phased to match available funding.
