Airport board seeks sheriff training and remote options for beacon; commissioners push immediate manual protocol

The Granite County Airport Advisory Board told the commission it is operating with reduced membership after several resignations and needs to finalize bylaws, officers and emergency procedures. Eric Anderson, an airport board member, told the commission the board’s primary unresolved technical issue is how to make runway and beacon lighting available quickly in a small-aircraft emergency.

"The beacon itself is manually turned on right down there at the airport in the breaker box," Anderson said, and explained that pilots can also trigger runway lighting from the cockpit for a short interval. Board members and commissioners agreed a remote option would require technical work and potentially regulatory review; the board recommended training the sheriff’s office to go to the field and flip the manual switch until a remote solution is engineered.

Commissioners asked staff to ensure that at least one airport board representative meets with sheriff's staff to demonstrate manual activation. A motion directing the airport board representative to meet with the sheriff and to ensure sheriff personnel are trained to manually activate the beacon and runway lights during emergencies passed on voice vote. The commission also discussed bylaws changes (retaining a five-or-seven member option), plans for a special April 1 meeting to reorganize the board, and pending applications from prospective members; public commenters raised that one applicant has a pending lawsuit against the county, which commissioners said they would consider but not automatically disqualify for advisory service.