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Pitkin County staff to submit $5 million congressional earmark request for airport terminal design
Summary
County staff told commissioners they intend to resubmit a congressionally directed spending request for $5 million to support design and early work on the Aspen–Pitkin County Airport terminal; the board authorized staff to proceed and asked staff to collect letters of support.
Pitkin County staff told the Board of County Commissioners on March 18 that they will resubmit a congressionally directed spending (CDS) request for the Aspen–Pitkin County Airport terminal design and asked for the board’s authorization to pursue roughly $5 million as an initial earmark request.
County staff said the county had previously prepared a CDS request for the terminal and later withdrew it while planning and ballot work proceeded. John (staff member) told the board that staff and the county’s lobbyist recommend a $5 million request now to support design and engineering costs; he described the amount as within the normal range of congressional earmark requests and as a modest, flexible start toward the airport’s larger funding needs.
Why it matters: The airport terminal is a multi‑year project with design and construction costs in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. County staff said an early CDS award would pay for near‑term work and position the project to compete for larger federal terminal grants later in the process.
Details the county provided - Staff recommended requesting $5,000,000 in congressional earmarks; they said the average earmark award is generally in the mid‑single millions and that a $5 million ask would be reasonable but not an outlier. - The county has RFQs out for terminal and runway design; staff said preliminary design/engineering work currently out for RFQ is likely to cost on the order of several million dollars (staff estimated design RFQ work in the “7 to 10 million” range across related procurements). - Staff said the ultimate construction cost estimate is substantially larger; staff described it as “hundreds of millions” in planning discussions and said the county intends to pursue federal terminal grant programs later in the design process.
Board response and next steps Commissioners present indicated support for submitting a CDS request. Commissioner Jeffrey Woodruff said the county should be “in the door” rather than missing an opportunity, and commissioners asked staff to circulate a draft letter and to seek letters of support from regional partners and municipal partners where feasible. Staff said they would prepare draft letters to send to local stakeholders, chambers and municipal partners, and would pursue additional outreach to the congressional delegation and the Senate offices administering CDS allocations.
No CDS award was reported during the meeting. Staff noted the CDS process has tight timelines: the Senate and House CDS cycles and committee calendars vary, and staff asked for early authorization so the county can submit if the funding window remains open. Commissioners directed staff to proceed with the submission and to return with supporting letters and documentation.
Ending: County staff will prepare the CDS application materials and draft letters of support for commissioner review; staff flagged that congressional earmarks are uncertain but that gaining early sponsorship and local support improves the county’s chances for an award.
