Five-year capital improvements plan must be submitted to Federal Aviation Administration by April 1: Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton (KPDT)

MARTINSBURG - Members of the Eastern Regional Airport Authority unanimously approved at their meeting Tuesday a five-year capital improvements plan that must be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration for review and approval.

The Airport Authority does a CIP every year, updating it in five-year intervals, Airport Manager Bill Walkup said.

"We submit our plan and then the FAA responds," he said. "They usually give us what we want, but they prioritize projects differently."

In the Airport Authority's CIP for the 2013-14 fiscal year, $134,210 for rehabilitating the airport's taxiways is the top priority, and $15,790 for acquiring miscellaneous land is number two.

Miscellaneous land refers to "through-the-fence" properties, Walkup explained. Through the fence is the term used to describe private property that abuts the airport's property with direct access to the airport's property.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FAA wants through-the-fence properties acquired by general aviation airports like Eastern Regional for security reasons.

The Airport Authority recently completed the purchase of a through-the-fence property, which was funded with FAA Airport Improvement Program grants over three years.

"There are two existing through-the-fence properties that remain to be purchased," Walkup said.

In the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years, the Airport Authority's CIP lists $150,000 each year for miscellaneous land acquisitions.

Also in the 2015-16 fiscal year is $72,000 for a noise compatibility study. The study would be for the C-17 Globemaster transport planes that will replace the 167th Airlift Wing's C-5 Galaxy transports beginning in late 2014.

In the 2016-17 and 2017-18 fiscal years, the Airport Authority's CIP calls for spending $150,000 each year on rehabilitating taxiways.

The dollar amounts represent 90 percent of the FAA grants, Walkup said. Usually, the Airport Authority must come up with a 10 percent local matching grant, he said.

In the past couple of years, the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission has provided the 10 percent local match, he said. And in some years, the FAA share was 95 percent, he said, reducing the local match to 5 percent.

Walkup said there have been some years when the Airport Authority had to get the local match from Martinsburg and Berkeley County.

The CIP must be submitted to the FAA by April 1, he said. He expects the FAA to return its recommendations by the first part of May.

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