Sawyer County airport runway work finished early; committee approves hangar lease transfer

The Sawyer County Public Works Committee heard updates Tuesday that the Sawyer County Airport runway reconstruction finished earlier than planned, and the committee approved a hangar lease transfer into a trust.

Mr. Leslie, the airport manager, told the committee the runway project "was mostly finished up on the tenth" and that work originally expected to close the field for two months was completed in 35 days. "We got it done in 35 days ... a real testament to our engineers, contractors," Mr. Leslie said.

The speed of completion depended heavily on favorable weather; Mr. Leslie said delays of even a week or two from June rains would have been "disastrous." He said the airport was very busy after reopening and described upcoming maintenance: night-time grooving to cut grooves into the runway surface, followed by night-time repainting that will require floodlights and generators. "Grooving does happen during nighttime hours ... it might take approximately a week," he said.

Mr. Leslie also reported recent and upcoming community events at the airport. The Civil Air Patrol pancake breakfast drew an estimated 400 to 500 attendees, and Young Eagles flights are scheduled for later in August; Mr. Leslie said he will attach a flyer to next month’s report. He said contractors were inspecting the terminal building exterior for rotten wood and that the county will pursue repairs as needed.

On a formal action, the committee approved a request by Dan Fandler to transfer his hangar lease into a trust. The paperwork was described as identical to a previous trust transfer handled two months earlier. Supervisor Mark Hellwig moved to approve the transfer; Supervisor Chuck Van Etten seconded the motion. The chair called for the question and the motion carried.

Mr. Leslie described other operational items: an EMS training day with North Memorial medevac crews involving roughly 25–30 participants, and construction of a temporary settling pit behind the airport to collect water from grooving operations; he said the pit has DNR approvals and will be cleaned up when work finishes.

Looking ahead, Mr. Leslie said the committee should expect a contract change for the fixed-base operator (FBO) at the airport at next month’s meeting. He said he is negotiating with a business partner and will coordinate with county counsel and staff; he anticipated the item could require a closed session but that it would be listed on the public agenda if needed. He also said the county might need to consider an "ALP insert sheet" (an Airport Layout Plan amendment) that could require board approval once the FAA and state processes are complete.

The committee received Mr. Leslie’s updates with no further action. The chair closed the item after a short discussion of timing and logistics for the grooving and repainting work.