Bentonville Lines Up Runway Work

BENTONVILLE -- The municipal airport's runway needs improvement, but they can't be done without a cost, the Airport Advisory Board discussed with airport officials Friday.

The runway safety area needs to be modified to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements, and officials are looking at the most efficient way to make the improvement while having minimal financial and operational impact on the airport.

At A Glance

Area Airport Projects

Bentonville

• Runway improvements: $500,000

Rogers:

• Apron renovation: Cost unknown

Springdale

• New landing lights system: $227,000

• New tank for fuel storage system: $150,000

• New access road: $900,000, $1 million

Fayetteville

• Apron resurface: $450,000

Source: Staff Report

The runway safety area is 150 feet wide from the center of the runway, said Ben Peters, city engineer who oversees the airport. The slopes on each side have to be 5 percent within the first 10 feet of the runway and between 1 1/2 and 3 percent after that, he said earlier this month.

"The slopes of the ground on each side of the runway are too steep," Peters said.

The improvement project includes correcting the slopes' angles and building a retaining wall at the north where the runway bumps against Lake Bentonville. The retaining wall will help get the slopes at the correct angles, Peters said.

"It's more rearranging what's there than filling it in with dirt," he said.

The bid for the more than $500,000 project was awarded to Van Buren's TNT Contractors in April with the anticipation of receiving a FAA grant pay for the improvement in July; however, the grant wasn't received until October because of the government's shutdown. Work hasn't been able to start because of poor weather, Peters said.

"We've talked to the contractor, and he's ready to go," he said.

The contract allows the contractor to work for 7.5 hours each day, which is problematic this time of year because there are fewer hours of daylight than when the project was bid, Peters said.

Greg Shipley, with Morrison Shipley engineers and surveyors, spoke with TNT and proffered three options to the board and airport officials at Friday's meeting.

The first was to divide the project in thirds and start with the north end, move to the south end and then finish in the middle, at which point the airport would have to close. This option would be an additional $107,000 and take 80 working days, 25 of which the airport would be closed.

The second option was to close the airport for 45 days and let the contractor use all day, everyday to complete the work as quickly as possible. It would cost another $148,000.

The third option was similar to the original contract where there would be time set aside each day for work to be done, and the airport would operate around those hours. The hours suggested by Shipley were for work to be done between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. There would be no change in cost, and the contractor was willing to discuss working hours to accommodate the airport as best as possible, Shipley said.

"None are good," said Summit Aviation owner Dave Powell when the board asked for his opinion. "None of these options are without a significant harm. They are all very difficult."

Powell said there isn't a way to quantify what the financial impact will be. Business people using Bentonville's airport will likely use other airports rather than accommodate their schedule to when the airport will be open, he said. And their money will being going to restaurants and hotels in other cities rather than staying in Bentonville, he added.

"I've said it before, but the reality is, the impact will be dramatic," Powell said.

Officials also discussed how the scheduling of work may harm the momentum the airport has built. Other options were debated and new ones introduced, but the conversation ended with the third option being the best.

"What we have now is the best for all involved," Peters said. "It's going to be painful for 90 days."

Other airport projects, discussed in the developing master plan, can't move forward and won't receive money from the FAA without the runway work being done, said Brian Baldwin, board chairman.

The board finalized major components of the plan, which includes a focus of development on the west side. A flight center is planned for the northwest corner. South of that would be a circular drive for aircraft, and hangars would be built along Southwest I Street.

The vision is to have more green space and develop an "air park" that would generate interest of general aviation within the community, according to officials.

The plan was recently presented to the state Department of Aeronautics, and will shown to the Federal Aviation Administration in March.

Bentonville's airport is just one of many in Northwest Arkansas looking to improvement.

Rogers Municipal Airport is in the design phase of reconstructing its aged apron, said David Krutsch, airport manager. The apron was built in the late 1980s, early 1990s for small aircraft. The renovation will accommodate heavier jets, he said.

The design phase should be completed late spring or earlier summer, according to Krutsch. Cost estimates will be known after the project is out to bid, and the time line for construction depends on money available for the project, he said.

The airport will apply for grants from the FAA and state Department of Aeronautics after the project is designed, Krutsh said.

The Springdale Municipal Airport has several projects under way. It's replacing its landing lights system as the current one quit working about a year ago, said Wyman Morgan, Springdale director of administration and financial services.

The cost of that project is $227,000, $221,600 of which the state will pay for, and the city will pay the rest, Morgan said.

The city will also spend about $150,000 for a tank for one of the airport's fuel storage systems, Morgan said. A new access road is going to be built so access to the airport isn't cut off by school traffic during peak driving times, Morgan said. That will cost between $900,000 and $1 million and will be 90 percent paid for through grants.

The Fayetteville Executive Airport is also looking to resurface its terminal apron, which has started to break and crack, said James Nicholson, the airport's financial coordinator.

The project is estimated to cost $450,000, and the city recently approved for an engineer to design the work, Nicholson said.

The construction will be paid for with savings from money the airport annually receives from the FAA, he said. Construction may start next spring.

NW News on 02/22/2014

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