Ocean Shores airport confirms AWOS site; funding shortfall to come from airport budget

The City of Ocean Shores Municipal Airport Advisory Committee confirmed the chosen location for a new Automated Weather Observing System and acknowledged a funding shortfall that will be covered by the airport's general fund. "For the AWOS itself, the money that we're not getting from the Washington State Department of Transportation... we're gonna have to look for that out of the general airport budget," Scott said, noting the amount is not large but will make a dent in the 2026 operating plan.

Committee members reported they walked the proposed site and agreed it was the appropriate location. Scott also said the siting and design contract has been signed and the committee has received an environmental review. "We've done all the paperwork. We just got our environmental review back. We're safe on that regard," he said, adding the next step is review of Century West's design documents that will show utilities, generator location and other technical details. The committee did not set an immediate funding motion; members agreed to move the AWOS cost into the airport budget for 2026/2027 planning and to await the final design documents before committing to install vendor contracts.