Airport manager reports Part 139 pass and seeks budget amendment after $89,335 in ARFF costs

The airport manager, Bob, reported that the airport passed its FAA Part 139 inspection and that the FAA inspector, Andrew Edstrom, praised improvements to movement areas, staffing and runway paint. "He said, none of your pilots will tell you, but I'll tell you, you did a good job," Bob said, relaying the inspector's repeated praise.

Bob said the authority is transitioning inspections, assets and training to the AeroSimple software to replace paper-based procedures, enabling digital work orders and cost tracking once FAA approval is received. "It's gonna help us really focus on tracking a problem from start to finish," Bob said.

On equipment, Bob reported ongoing preventative maintenance on snowplows and that a 45-year-old snowblower part is being machined. He said the airport had significant ARFF truck repair and recalibration expenses this year and provided dollar figures: "We've come up with so far this year, expenses for the ARFF truck alone, $89,335.42," he said. He added that $46,001.65 covered training and foam costs already paid and that the remaining shortfall he reported was about $43,170. Bob said he had requested a budget amendment from county finance director Matt Funk and expected Utah State University to reimburse some costs.

Bob also said the airport has an estimate of $50,000 to move two PAPI control units; that amount will be considered in future budget amendments and potential reimbursement requests.

Next steps: staff will continue the AeroSimple implementation and pursue FAA approval to go fully paperless; Bob will request a budget amendment to cover ARFF expenses and pursue reimbursement from partners where appropriate.