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Freeport council authorizes FAA inspection agreement, ratifies emergency runway repairs
Summary
The council approved a reimbursable agreement with the FAA to inspect and commission new PAPI and runway lighting and ratified emergency lightning‑damage repairs. The FAA inspection requires an advance payment estimated at about $20,000; council noted the full PAPI replacement is roughly $250,000 and voted 5–2 on the agreement.
The Freeport City Council on a 5–2 vote authorized a non‑federal reimbursable agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to allow FAA technical review, flight inspection and commissioning of a replaced precision approach path indicator (PAPI) system and medium-intensity runway lighting (MIRL) at Albertus Airport.
Manager Boyer said the PAPI system serving Runway 6‑24 has been inoperable for several years and is on the airport’s capital improvement schedule. "Whenever we do airport improvements, 5% is locally funded, 5% is provided by the State, and 90% is provided by the FAA," Boyer said. He told council the agreement authorizes FAA to perform the inspection and commissioning and that the city must advance the estimated FAA inspection cost — which staff described as about $20,000.42 — with reimbursement to follow.
Darren, the airport project contact who spoke during the presentation, told council: "I believe the PAPI light system replacement is about $250,000," and said that the initial inspection fee is preparatory work needed to move the grant project forward.
Alderman Stacy pressed staff on whether the inspection payment would be reimbursed; Boyer answered it would be: "Yes. 100%."
Council approved the resolution authorizing the FAA agreement 5–2. The negative votes reflected members who said they wanted more complete project cost detail before advancing preparatory expenses; proponents said the inspection is a necessary step to secure grant funding and proceed with the scheduled work.
Separately, council unanimously ratified emergency runway light and regulator repairs after lightning strikes disabled several lighting systems at the airport. Manager Boyer said contractors found multiple problems while repairing the initial damage and that staff had submitted insurance claims; staff reported receiving $70,000 toward the cost. "So staff recommends moving forward paying these bills," Boyer said. The ratification passed 7–0.
What’s next: staff will advance the FAA inspection payment and submit for reimbursement once the FAA completes the required flight inspection and commissioning. Council asked that staff return with total project cost details for future discussion.
