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HomeMy WebLinkAboutState Money May help Sebastian Airport's WoesSebastian River Area. • Grant • Micco-Little Hollywood • Barefoot Bay • Sebastian • Fellsmere • Roseland * Vero Lake Estates JL �� �� �-,. de Sebastian airport's runways from above, courtesy of J&S Aviation. (Press -Journal— Bruce Cook) State one ay He Sebastian Woes By BRUCE COOK Sebastian Bureau Chief Most of the money for a proposed repaving of Sebastian Municipal Airport's aging runways may come from the state. An official from the state Department of Transportation said the airport's runways would qualify for up to 90 percent state funding because no federal money has gone into the air- port for at least four years. State funding, said Steve Kozman, DOT avi- ation engineer, would be a last resort if federal funds don't come through. "If worse comes to worse, the state could fund it," he said. Kozman said the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration won't commit funds to an airport project without an airport master plan or an airport layout plan. Sebastian has neither. "The way I see it, they are having trouble get- ting a master plan," said Kozman. Sebastian's efforts to create a master plan — long-range blueprints of the airport's future — go back to. November 1984, when the city agreed to hire the consulting firm of Post, Buckley Schuh and Jernigan for a master plan study. But the first draft of the 20-year plan, which included a proposed 600-foot extension of the airport's main runway, fueled a public contro- versy over the airport's future. That controversy eventually led to a change in the city's charter which subjects certain capi- tal projects at the airport to a public vote. Referendum projects would include lengthen- ing or relocating any runway, constructing any new runway or taxiway, constructing any air- port terminal; allowing any control tower, installing any additional runway or taxiway lights, except on the primary runway, or insta- lling any navigational aid or .instrumentation for the primary purpose of promoting or accom- modating jet aircraft traffic. The latest version of the plan does not in- clude any runway extensions, but it does in- clude repaving of the main runway. City Council has since directed the consul- tants to include in yet another version of the master plan an engineering study which recom- mends resurfacing both runways. The DOT's tentative five-year transportation plan does not include funds for the resurfacing of both runways at Sebastian's airport, but that could change if the city adopts a master plan that calls for resurfacing of both runways, said Kozman. The five-year transportation plan does in- clude $59,000 for preliminary tests and engi- neering for the runway resurfacing job. That figure, to be funded in fiscal 1989,. said Kozman, represents 90 percent of the engi- neering and design cost. The city would be expected to pay the rest. Kozman said DOT included the engineering money in its five-year plan despite the lack of a master plan for Sebastian because "we know the runways are in bad shape." Neither runway has been resurfaced since they were constructed sometime during World War II. The report from Empire Engineering & Test- ing Inc. notes numerous cracks and depressions in both runways and small chunks of asphalt missing from the south end of the main runway. That report recommends repairs and a two-inch asphalt overlay for both runways. Kozman said the FAA would be more willing to provide funding for the resurfacing job if the design work is already done. "We have found that in order to get the feder- al money, it is best to have the drawings done up front," he said. Based on earlier drafts of the airport master plan, the DOT's five-year plan includes '$251,- 000 in fiscal year 1990 for overlay of the main runway and $36,000 in fiscal year 1992 for repair of the secondary runway. Kozman said the five-year plan could be changed to reflect resurfacing of both runways. Only the items scheduled for fiscal 1989, he noted, are actually funded. Projects scheduled for the remaining four years are actually funded when the DOT's work program is adopted each July 1. The current version of the state's five-year plan amounts to $659,000 worth of projects at Sebastian's airport. That includes $42,000 in fiscal year 1989 for the construction of an entrance road on the air- port's west side. That project would be funded on a 50-50 basis between the state and the city. Noise studies to the tune of $80,000 have also. been scheduled for fiscal 1989. The state pro- poses 90 percent federal funding for that study, with the state and the city each providing 5 per- cent. Upgrading of airport lighting and an environ- mental assessment, totaling $191,000, are scheduled for fiscal year 1991. The visual aids, said Kozman, could get up to 90 percent federal funding, with the city and the state each putting in 5 percent. The same formula, he said,, would apply to the environ- mental assessment. The city's proposed airport master plan, cur- rently being revised for resubmission to coun- cil, also qualifies for federal money. City Manager Robb McClary has forwarded a letter to the master plan consultants outlining the latest revisions approved by council. McC- lary had not received the latest master plan draft as of Friday.