As the city continues to explore the possibility of moving the airport, equipment maintenance has become an issue for staff at the current facility.
Paul Cardoza, the Parks and Recreation Division operations manager, said the Automated Weather Observation System at Los Banos Municipal Airport is not working properly. The AWOS provides weather information such as wind speed, fog and cloud cover to pilots flying into the city’s airport.
Cardoza said the cloud cover and wind speed measuring tools are broken.
“The problem is that the system froze up,” he said. “The biggest problem of our AWOS system is the parts are not manufactured anymore, they’re obsolete. What little parts (the manufacturer) has to repair the system they’re running out of those parts.”
Cardoza said the city has decided to upgrade the system.
“We’ve had it roughly about 12 years and it’s due for a change over,” he said. “It is encased, but it still takes a lot of wear and tear. It’s out there in the sun. It takes a beating with the wind, the dirt and the dust.”
Cardoza said the upgraded AWOS will likely be “in the $10,000 range.” The city is gathering estimates and is expected to report an actual cost at the September Airport Advisory Commission meeting.
“The system is not something we have to have, but it does help the pilots and makes it safer for them,” Cardoza said.
While city staff deals with the AWOS issue plans to move the airport near a planned industrial park are slowly progressing.
City officials are attempting to develop a 1,585-acre industrial park along Interstate 5 and Highway 165. Los Banos Municipal Airport would be moved to a 300-acre piece of land adjacent to the industrial park as part of the project and a medical facility would be built where the airport is now.
The planned project is expected to eventually create about 10,000 jobs and generate more than $5 million in annual property and sales tax revenue.
Public Works Director Mark Fachin said two design configurations for the industrial park are under consideration. He also said he plans to ask the City Council to allow him to purchase wind machines so testing can be done at alternative sites for relocating the airport. Five sites are currently being study in case the location next to the industrial park proves incompatible.
Original article can be found here: http://www.losbanosenterprise.com
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