PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners unanimously approved applying for a state Department of Transportation Airport Aid Grant to support two capital projects at William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The port intends to use the WSDOT grant funds as a match when it applies for FAA Airport Improvement Program grant funding. If awarded, the FAA grant would pay for 95 percent of the projects’ costs, airport manager James Alton said. Both projects are part of the port’s 2025 capital budget.
The port has known for a couple of years that Taxiway A, which runs parallel to the airport’s main runway 09/27, is in need of repair, Alton told commissioners Tuesday.
While the entire taxiway would ideally be replaced, due to budget constraints, the more deteriorated western end will be completely reconstructed and the eastern end rehabilitated by sealing cracks and applying a slurry seal coat, Alton said.
The $5.8 million project will extend the useful life of the western end by 20 years and the eastern end by five to seven years, he said.
The WSDOT grant would fund Phase II planning for the construction of a building that would contain four box hangars, each measuring 62 1/2 feet by 70 feet. The $291,538 project originally called for T-hangars, but it was revised so the space could hold larger aircraft.
Port staff will do site development to help keep down costs, said Chris Hartman, the port’s director of engineering.
If the grant funding comes through, work on the taxiway and hangar projects would occur next summer.
The airport is in the process of developing a plan for handling aircraft operations during what is anticipated to be the taxiway’s 70-day construction period, Alton said.
With the FAA providing 95 percent of the $6.1 million cost for both projects, the state and the port would each contribute 2.5 percent — or $153,084.
Meanwhile, commissioners unanimously approved sending a letter to Griffin Chamberlain upon his resignation from the port’s Timber Advisory Committee, thanking him for his service, and approved the appointment of Nicole Kimzey of Merrill & Ring as his replacement.
The board welcomed to its meeting two guests from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. Bill Paape, associate administrator for ports and waterways, and Xochitl Castaneda, director of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Gateway Office, planned to tour the port’s waterfront properties.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
