The Airport Commission held their monthly meeting on March 28 at the Russellville Regional Airport. The meeting started at 6 p.m. and agenda items included fuel sales, truck storage and maintenance building plans, the runway crack seal project and ramp fees.
Airport Manager Bobby Day opened the meeting presenting the fuel sales numbers. He explained that while they are down from the norm this time of year, sales are picking up. Currently the airport is averaging 50 operations daily, and Day is optimistic that fuel sales and operations are recovering from the lull seen during the winter months. Commission Member Phil Cowger explained that aviation fuel sales help to fund airport projects across the state as there is an additional 6% sales tax tacked onto aviation fuel above federal tax. The tax revenue goes to the state and is placed in an account designated for airport use only, which goes to help the state uphold the FAA policy of the state providing 5% of the funds for FAA approved airport projects.
The commission also discussed the revised plan for the new storage and maintenance building. The new plans include more detail than the initial plans contained. Updated for code compliance and convenience, the new plans lay out where extra doors, vents, heaters, and other amenities would be placed, as well as measurements for maintenance “pits”. The building will serve to store and service the maintenance vehicles at the airport.
The big-ticket item discussed was this year’s project of sealing the cracks in the runway. The initial estimate was well under the surveyed estimate acquired this month. The airport is now proposing that a whopping 58,000 feet of cracks will need to be cleaned and filled. The majority of the cracks run along the seams in the asphalt, with other cracks running perpendicularly. Day said, "It’s important to seal the cracks because water seeps in and softens the ground, then with the weight of planes and jets the runway decays even more rapidly.” The rough estimate is that this will cost $2 per linear foot, so the crack sealing will likely be the only project for the airport this fiscal year. Funding for the project mostly comes from the FAA, from which the airport has $150,000 accessible to it without competing with any other airport for priority. The main conflict the commission foresees is shutting down the runway for one month while the repair work is being completed. They plan on holding off until October when funds are available and the weather is cool.
Manager Day also proposed establishing a ramp fee for pilots that use the ramp and facilities but do not purchase fuel. He stated that “it seems most other airports have a ramp fee." "In the last year I’ve had three or four pilots ask to pay a ramp fee,” he added. The fee would be waived with the purchase of fuel in an amount yet to be determined. The commission agreed to postpone voting until next month’s meeting since a few members were absent.
Source: http://www.rivervalleyleader.com
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