Council gives go-ahead for airport taxilane construction

The Weiser City Council on Monday approved a professional service agreement for J-U-B Engineers to begin construction of new taxilanes at Weiser Municipal Airport.
 Additional taxilanes are needed to accommodate 12 to 14 new lots and, subsequently, new hangars on all of them. 
 “We are hoping to start construction in July and are trying to have it done by the end of September,” Weiser City Clerk David Tate said of the project on Tuesday.
 Airport Manager, Jim Metzger, said he is happy to see that the project is moving forward.
 “We are finally going to get this going. Originally, they didn’t think they would start construction until September or October, but that’s been moved up,” he said. “I think they are opening bids beginning next week and we’ll find out who the contractor is going to be that is going to do the work, so I think it’s full-steam ahead.”
 Metzger said the project underscores recent growth and demand for more storage space at the airport. There is only one lot left of the 12 or so made available through the new taxilane construction.
 “We need the hangar space,” he said. “Everybody wants to build bigger hangars, which is just what’s going on across America, but even here for sure. We have one small hangar lot available right now. Everything else is taken because they want larger lots, so we had to move them in different places, but this [project] will give us, I think, 12 or 14 more hangar spots, with room for more growth if we need it. We can take it out a little further if we have to.”
 Funds for the project come from a $405,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant. Another $33,000 comes from a required match from the City of Weiser and a projected $11,000 from the State of Idaho for a total of almost $450,000.
 The FAA grant comes under the $2.2 trillion CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act passed under the Trump administration on March 27, 2020. It is an economic stimulus bill signed into law in response to the economic challenges presented during the pandemic.
 The Act includes $10 billion in funds awarded as economic relief to eligible U.S. airports. The package originally funded 100 percent of eligible projects, but that percentage has now terminated. The Act, however, continues to fund approximately 90 percent of eligible projects, with a matching percentage from cities and states.
 

Category:

Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

Connect with Us