Runway Resurfacing Will Be Torn Up In 2016

While some cash-strapped US airports are unsuccessful in seeking money from the FAA, one in Minnesota is sitting on $150,000 it got in 2009, and the FAA says, "use it or lose it." Houston County Commissioners have assured the FAA that the surplus funds will be spent in 2012.

The Spring Grove Herald reports that the Houston County Airport gets $150,000 annually from the FAA, according to County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski. The money can be held for a little over three years, so the maximum amount that the airport can accumulate for a project is $600,000. Houston County will reach that point this year. If an airport needs more than it can save to complete a project, airports sometimes loan each other money to adjust the timing.

Houston County Airport (KCHU), is located near Caledonia, Minnesota. It's a GA facility with a 3,500' runway 13/31, and the current AFD notes "alligator cracking, loose aggregate...Turf taxiway rutted." The county wants to undertake a realignment and expansion, but that will take millions of dollars, money which is not expected to be available until 2016.

Pogodzinski tells the Herald that after he got the letter from the FAA, "MnDOT Aeronautics contacted me and asked if we would be interested in doing an overlay this year on our runway? What the state's saying is that they don't think the pavement is going to hold up until 2016, and they're afraid we're going to have to shut the airport down prior to that even if we're going to do a re-alignment project."

Pogodzinski seems to be in a no-win situation. Overlaying the decaying runway with a new, two-inch-thick coat of asphalt, and adding new blacktop to the ramp area could be done for about $400,000, but the county can't spend the money unless it budgets for its matching portion, or five percent of the total. There's also an environmental assessment (EA) study needed. If the overlay is done, it would presumably be ripped out in 2016 when the larger realignment project is approved.

So, what is Pogodzinski recommending to his board, with the clock ticking on the loss of $150,000 in 2009 funding? He tells the Herald, "I would recommend telling the FAA that we're going to have a project. Whether it's an overlay of the runway with paving between the hangers and parking area or it's just the hangers and parking area and leave the runway alone for a year, so in 2013 after the EA study is done we can look at those options as well. We could potentially spend those dollars on design and survey as well."

FMI: http://aeronav.faa.gov/pdfs/nc_113_15DEC2011.pdf