Commissioners approve $1.3M FAA entitlement transfer; airport reports $43.3M terminal and $2.54M state grant

Sweetwater County commissioners on June 3 approved an administrative transfer of $1.3 million in FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) entitlements to Sheridan County Airport, a move Airport Director Devin Brubaker described as a standard federal-level administrative transfer that helps regionwide formula calculations.

Brubaker said the transfers simply allow airports to lend apportionments to one another so each facility can use funds when needed without creating excessive carryover that alters federal discretionary formulas. "This is strictly an administrative transfer at the federal level," he said, and the board authorized the chairman to execute the required documents.

Separately, Brubaker gave a lengthy update on the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport terminal project and operations. He reported a current project cost of $43,327,450 with the local share remaining $1,250,000 (about 2.9% of the total). He also said the airport recently secured $2,540,000 in IDJA matching funds that arrived as a non-reimbursable check and credited that grant as the final piece that pushed the terminal financing over the top: "We were successful in securing all $2,540,000 and just, late last week, we received the check for that." Brubaker reported contractual substantial completion is scheduled for the end of August with final completion in the first week of October and said there were "no known schedule delays at this time."

Brubaker also noted a 0-discrepancy FAA inspection, rising fuel sales, passenger-booking trends and the purchase of a newer firefighting vehicle for $100,000 that has already been converted to non-PFAS foam. He warned that a state air-service funding program is set to lose funding by June 2026 and urged local and state stakeholders to consider options to sustain support for rural air service.