Ocean Shores airport one plane short of FAA threshold for AWOS funding

Ocean Shores Municipal Airport Advisory Committee members spent a special Jan. 21 meeting focused on how to reach the Federal Aviation Administrationthreshold of 10 based aircraft required to secure federal funding for an automated weather observation system (AWOS).

Staff reported the airportcurrently shows nine based aircraft and that "we are at 9 now and we need another 1," a committee member said during the meeting. Century West provided the committee with the FAA list of based aircraft that the FAA uses to determine eligibility for certain funding buckets.

Committee members discussed short-term fixes and longer-term options. Short-term proposals included helping owners update their registration on the FAA "Base Aircraft" website, asking a local owner (referred to in the meeting as Dan) to move his aircraft from Shelton, and temporarily leasing space in an existing hangar. One aircraft owner said they could explore a temporary arrangement if a written hold-harmless agreement addressed liability concerns.

The packet distributed to members identified funding sources for the AWOS project, including NPE (non-primary entitlements) and "AIG, airport improvement grants," and noted the first disbursement would fund siting studies. "The first chunk of money was $34,000, to try to determine which of those 3 to use," a committee speaker said when summarizing the paperwork. Members emphasized they do not want to spend the siting money until FAA funding is confirmed.

Members debated an apparent rule that an aircraft be based for "6 months plus 1 day" to be counted; one speaker said that was their understanding based on conversations with a Century West contact named Melanie, while others said that practice has sometimes relied on owner self-reporting unless another airport claims the aircraft. The committee did not resolve the timing question during the meeting.

A longer-term option discussed was private development of additional hangars: staff said four plots on the airport development plan could accommodate four more hangars but that city-built hangars would likely cost more than $1,000,000 and therefore would require private investment or a developer. Members also suggested asking Century West whether FAA funds unused by other Washington airports could be reallocated to Ocean Shores; staff agreed to consult Century West, though some expressed skepticism about feasibility.

Members also tied the AWOS argument to emergency management: staff noted the Washington EMD (Department of Emergency Management) recommended the airport as an emergency-gathering point after reviewing tsunami evacuation routes, and said an AWOS would improve the ability of medical and military helicopters to operate into the field in poor weather.

The committee assigned follow-up tasks: a named member will contact Dan about moving an aircraft; the city clerk will try to retrieve lease records to identify the owner of Hangar 2 and contact that person; staff will coordinate a time to talk with Century West about funding alternatives. The committee agreed to reconvene by email or call a special meeting within a few weeks if the items are not resolved; the next scheduled meeting date is March 17.

There were two procedural motions: members moved and approved the meeting agenda at the start, and later moved and approved adjournment. No formal board action was taken on the AWOS project itself; members limited decisions to assigning follow-up work and information requests.