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Canton Airport Board reports AWOS repair, steady fuel sales and hangar interest
Summary
At the Aug. meeting, Canton Airport Board member Bruce Henke updated the commission on flight instruction growth, a malfunctioning AWOS unit with an $1,800 CPU replacement cost, modest fuel-tax credit and interest in new hangars.
Bruce Henke, a member of the Canton Airport Board, told the Canton City Commission on Aug. — during the meeting's visitor comment period — that the airport has seen an increase in flight instruction, steady fuel sales and a continuing issue with the automated weather observation system.
Henke said Dakota Aviation has added a third aircraft for flight instruction and that a private plane owner recently trained there. "They've been doing really, really well," Henke said, noting the airport still shows about 29 aircraft on the field and that plans for a couple more hangars are part of an ongoing airport layout process.
Henke reported a malfunction in the AWOS unit that traces to a failed central processor unit. He said the replacement will cost about $1,800. "That little bugger is gonna cost us $1,800 to replace it," Henke said. He added the city has received $693 in fuel-tax funds (as of June) that can be used toward the repair.
On fuel sales, Henke said the airport's delivered avgas price has fallen slightly and the board is selling fuel at about $4.65 per gallon to stay competitive with nearby airports.
Henke also described a recent phone-routing problem that briefly redirected the airport phone line to an unrelated business; he said the issue was fixed after contacting the phone vendor and the city.
Why it matters: the AWOS provides pilots an automated report of visibility, wind and barometric pressure used for flight planning; downtime limits that information and can affect operations. New hangars and added flight instruction indicate activity at the field that may require infrastructure and oversight.
The airport update was offered as information during public comment; no formal action was taken by the commission on the AWOS repair, hangar planning or fuel pricing at the meeting.
Ending: Henke closed by inviting questions and by noting the board had submitted budgets and continues to track paperwork and grant numbers related to airport operations.
