Oroville Municipal Airport (KOVE) now offering jet fueling

At the Oroville Municipal Airport on Feb. 15, Tom Hagler shows a jet refueling truck. 

(Ty Barbour Photo)

OROVILLE -- Full-service jet refueling is now available at the Oroville Municipal Airport.

Rick Walls, senior civil engineer and airport manager for the city of Oroville, said they started the project in January, but there were quite a few steps to go through.

"They just started jet refueling at the airport earlier this week," Walls said by telephone on Friday.

Full-service jet refueling has been a priority for the city since 2008, according to a press release from Bob Marciniak.

In 2008, an Airport Revitalization Study concluded the airport was not being used to its full capacity.

The study recommended offering jet refueling and refurbishing the Fixed Base Operator building to revitalize the airport.

Walls said now pilots can call the airport to arrange to refuel.

When the airplane lands, Tom Hagler, the fixed base operator, will take the jet refuel truck out to the airplane.

Then Hagler will take the money or credit card and process the transaction inside the building.

"The pilots don't even have to get out of their airplanes," Walls said.

The airport charges $5.70 a gallon for full-service refueling.

The project started earlier this year when the city asked for bids for a new contract to operate the airport.

The bidding resulted in an extended 5-year lease for Hagler, of Table Mountain Aviation, who already operated the airport.

However, a condition of the extended lease was for Hagler to offer jet refueling in 2012.

The airport will offer pilots full-service refueling during normal business hours and by appointment after hours, according to Marciniak.

The City Council also has approved a staff proposal to craft the final plans to remodel the airport operator's building.

Source:  http://www.orovillemr.com