Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Airport Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee prioritizes AWOS upgrades and questions perimeter fence in FAA five-year plan
Summary
Committee members reviewed the FAA-required five-year capital improvement plan (2026–2030), discussed funding items for AWOS installation and perimeter fence, and recommended staff pursue clarification from the FAA on AWOS capability and consider reallocating fence money to a higher-level AWOS.
Committee members reviewed the FAA-supplied five-year capital improvement plan for the airport and discussed projects listed for 2026 through 2028, including installation phases for an Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), a perimeter fence and a wind cone.
“It was supposed to be installed in ’25, at least the initial phase,” a committee member said about AWOS, noting the airport has been seeking an AWOS for years. The committee identified three AWOS capability levels and said AWOS‑3, which reports cloud ceiling as well as other conditions, would be the most useful locally.
Members asked staff to draft a joint letter to the FAA seeking clarity on which AWOS level is planned and to request consideration of moving perimeter fence funds into an upgraded AWOS if possible. “We might think about taking that perimeter fence, taking that money, and putting it into the AWOS 3, maybe,” one committee member suggested during the meeting.
Committee members questioned the value and feasibility of a perimeter fence. Speakers noted a significant portion of the airport boundary abuts state or federal lands and wetlands, that deer can jump typical fences and that a fence would be expensive relative to local airport size and benefits. They also raised property‑access complications where Fish and Wildlife or other agencies own adjacent land.
The meeting record shows the AWOS project items are listed in the airport improvement plan with preliminary cost figures (example entries cited by staff: $100,000 for a construction phase and $220,000 for a later phase), but committee members said the FAA documentation did not specify the AWOS performance level. The committee directed staff to draft a letter to the FAA (staff and committee member Scott and another member planned to prepare it) to request specification and to ask whether the fence project could be reallocated toward AWOS if that would better serve safety and operational needs.
No formal funding decision was made at the meeting; members treated the review as planning and direction to staff to pursue clarification with FAA and partners.
