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Fremont County airport director outlines growth, safety work and runway reconstruction plans
Summary
Airport Director Wes Brandt briefed commissioners on operations, increasing hangar construction, upcoming projects including an AWOS replacement and taxiway resurfacing, and a planned runway reconstruction in 2028; he noted much of the airport's funding comes through FAA and state grants.
Wes Brandt, director of the Fremont County Airport, told the Board of County Commissioners the airport is seeing growth in hangar construction and activity and outlined several capital and safety projects planned over the next several years.
Brandt said the airport will replace its automatic weather observation system (AWOS) this year; the existing unit is 23 years old and functionally obsolete. He also said the county plans resurfacing work on taxiways Alpha 3, Alpha 5 and Alpha 6, and intends to reconstruct the runway in 2028. "We are planning on reconstructing the runway. So we have the oldest runway in the state," Brandt said.
Brandt described daily operations: maintaining over a million square feet of pavement, mowing about 400 acres of airport property, managing wildlife, plowing snow in winter and crack-filling and striping pavement in summer. He said the airport maintains county-owned hangars that house roughly a dozen aircraft and operates three rental office buildings.
On funding, Brandt and commissioners noted the airport receives significant FAA Airport Improvement Program funds and state grant assistance. Brandt described a CDOT education grant that paid for a flight simulator purchased for training and high-school aviation students, and he explained a state surplus-equipment program and auctions that help rural airports obtain used snow- and runway-clearing equipment at reduced cost.
Brandt also described operational services at the field: fuel sales (self-service and full service), courtesy cars and rental opportunities, aircraft towing, and support for firefighting responses and medical flights. He said the airport sometimes serves as a helitack base for wildfire mapping and suppression and supports military flight training operations.
