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Crystal River FBO reports fuel-equipment failures; county schedules fuel-farm replacement with brief outage expected
Summary
FBO operator James Chen reported months of problems with 100LL and Jet-A fuel equipment that have recently been restored; county staff said a fuel-farm replacement will start June 23 with a roughly one-week outage and final completion on 2027-01-08, and staff are coordinating temporary trucked fuel to minimize disruption.
James Chen, who identified himself as representing the Crystal River Group that runs the airport FBO, told the board the operation experienced failures to both 100LL and Jet-A equipment beginning before Christmas and that parts and service were slow to arrive. "We were really struggling to get a service company coming on time and waiting for the parts delivery," Chen said, adding that vendors Andre Lolet and JetAFU ultimately restored service.
Todd Regan, Citrus County aviation project manager, gave a timeline for a planned fuel-farm replacement at Crystal River. He said submittals are "99%" complete, that the project schedule calls for work to start on June 23 and an anticipated final completion date of 01/08/2027. Regan told the board the plan includes temporary storage and trucked fuel to avoid significant interruptions; staff expect roughly one week with no farm-based fuel while temporary tanks and truck deliveries bridge the gap.
Regan said the county aims to limit fuel interruptions by staging temporary storage and using truck deliveries: "We're gonna have a week without fuel, meaning they're gonna start tearing down... and using them for this temporary fuel storage," he said, adding that once temporary storage is online fuel service to the airport will continue during construction.
Board members asked about consistency of date formatting in project materials and whether the fuel outage timing would affect operations; staff said the county would provide more details and communicate to tenants and users ahead of work. Separately, event organizer Chris Moline said the DRC Triathlon is planned for Saturday, May 2 and is awaiting FAA approval; FDOT has already given approval. Regan noted FAA review timelines have lengthened (he cited a 120-day window), which could mean FAA approval for special-event airspace arrangements might arrive after the planned May 2 date.
The county's message to pilots will include the short outage window, contact points for fuel inquiries and any temporary fueling procedures during construction.
