Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Teton County Airport Board grapples with loss of Conservation Reserve Program payments

The Teton County Airport Board, meeting Nov. 10, revisited several topics from last month, including the Choteau Airport’s new weather station and a major reduction in the airport’s revenue set to take effect in 2016.

The board also received a “scope of services” draft for updating the airport’s master plan, a project that could cost $185,000 with all but 10 percent paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration. The board would apply to the state for grants and loans for the 10 percent match.

The new AWOS or automatic weather observing system provides current weather conditions except for precipitation amounts at Choteau Airport. More details on its operation were available from the Airport Board’s aviation engineer, Mike Beckhoff of DOWL Engineering, in a follow-up email.

“In the beginning, the FAA made us conduct a benefit cost analysis since [the agency] claims to have costs associated with maintaining that connection. The results of the analysis did not qualify this AWOS to be connected to the National Weather Service network,” Beckhoff said. He added that the Choteau Airport’s weather is viewable from the AWOS manufacturer’s website, usawosweb.com. The site only posts current conditions. It does not have a weather data archive.

However, the data from “KCII,” the station identifier for Choteau Airport, is being posted on the Mesowest.utah.edu website, with the support of the “Great Falls Weather Forecast Office.” Enter Choteau’s Zipcode in the upper left search menu and hit return. Then, at the drop-down menu for 24-hour trend monitor, choose “All Networks” and hit return. The links to area weather stations appears in list form.

Beckhoff said the AWOS can be reached by telephone from anywhere in the world at 406-466-2259. The AWOS broadcasts on a frequency of 130.050 megahertz. At lower altitudes, such as 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the ground, it can be picked up at about 25 miles away.

“I have had one report from a local pilot being able to pick it up 60 miles away at about 15,000 feet above the ground,” Beckhoff said.

The system’s measurement terms on the website, usawosweb.com, are in knots, degrees, inches of mercury and Celsius temperatures, but the Mesowest website lists the data converted in miles per hour, cardinal directions and Fahrenheit temperatures. The system has an altimeter, which is used to help pilots know how far they are above the ground.

Board members Eric Gunderson, Scott Gasvoda, Mike Campbell and Ray Anderson, (Bill Woodhouse was absent), along with the board’s liaison, Teton County Commissioner Ron Ostberg, reviewed a Oct. 20 letter that stated that the Farm Service Agency would suspend the 2016 and 2017 annual rental payments, which are based on the Choteau Airport’s acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. The CRP contract has those two remaining years of its current CRP contract. The board received $10,812 last fiscal year and has depended on the revenue for 17 years.

The revenue is used to pay back loans for airport improvements. Airport revenue is derived from a permanent .5-mill countywide levy and from grants, rental income and fuel sales.

Billy Denison, the Park County FSA executive director who is in charge of contracts made with all local and state agencies, wrote that a committee, “completed a more thorough review of the farm operation plan for 2008 and found the original determination of ‘actively engaged in farming’ to be incorrect. … The Teton Airport Commission does not have members with a beneficial interest who can provide a qualifying labor or management contribution; therefore the Teton Airport Commission does not meet the cash rent tenant requirements and cannot be considered as actively engaged in farming.”

The Airport Board members discussed the issue at length, with Anderson suggesting that the land in question, which was cropland before the county and city jointly bought it, could be rented out to a farmer, for example. However, Board Chairman Gunderson said it was highly unlikely that a change of that nature would fly with the FSA, and it might pose additional scrutiny on the board. He noted that the board had 30 days to appeal the ruling, and he would discuss and get clarification of the issue with the Teton County FSA executive director.

For example, it appears that although the payments would not be forthcoming, the Airport Board is still held to the terms of the contract for the next two years. “We can’t do anything with the land until the contract is up in 2017. I think they should release us from the contact if they won’t pay,” Gunderson said. “If we can’t get revenue, we can’t pay for anything.”

On Nov. 12, Teton County Commission Chairman Joe Dellwo was asked if the county might consider replacing the lost CRP revenue with PILT, Payments In Lieu of Taxes, funding. He replied, “We would entertain that discussion.” As to any increase in property taxes, he added that whether the airport mill levy could be increased without a vote would have to be investigated, however, the airport budget is part of the county’s general fund that has a mill cap, and so any increase in future years for airports would mean a reduction in another department’s budget.

“If you give it to someone, then you have to take it from someone else,” he said.

On another topic, the newly-purchased used Jet-A fuel truck stationed at Choteau airport is not yet in service because the hoses need to be replaced and Anderson is seeking a way to decipher the weathered placard that provides instructions on its various gauges. The pitted aluminum sign has faded, but Anderson is hoping to use some photographic technology to reveal the wording or to find a replacement placard via the Internet.

Lastly, the board took under advisement the DOWL scope of services for updating the Airport Master Plan, a document that dates back to 2000. The plan, which will take a year to produce, will analyze current demands and forecast future operations and based aircraft and develop a plan to support the needs of Choteau Airport over the next 20 years. A special task will be to develop alternatives that address the Yeager building, that was built on airport land under a long-term lease but that houses a non-aeronautical business.

- Source:  http://www.choteauacantha.com

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