The Battle Mountain and Austin airports are continuing to undergo major improvements.
The Battle Mountain Airport is seeing an update to its Master Plan which is now being handled by the FAA's (Federal Aviation Administration) new Phoenix district office instead of the San Francisco office, said J.D. Heithoff, senior airport engineer with J-U-B Engineers.
The county is hoping the new district office will continue to allow the medium to heavy air bombers at the Battle Mountain Airport that the Bureau of Land Management uses for fighting wildfires.
The Master Plan is in the second of three stages in which J-U-B Engineers is continuing to gather information and get the FAA to concur with its findings and recommendations for future growth.
The first stage of the Master Plan was reviewing the existing facilities, infrastructure, buildings, utilities, pavements, navigational aids and airspace. The third stage will consist of implementing the plan and making sure the county, FAA and public are on board with everything.
The cost of the Master Plan update is around $300,000 with the FAA paying 93.75 percent and the county funding the rest, Heithoff said.
J-U-B just got the FAA's approval for the Battle Mountain Airport's airfield and pavement rehabilitation project which will consist of crack sealing, seal coating and remarking the pavement for the surface of both runways, the taxiways and the apron, Heithoff said.
The project is currently under design which should be wrapped up some time in the fall. The FAA will be funding 93.75 percent of the project. Depending on further funding, the project is slated to be bid in January 2015 and to wrap up by the end of May so the BLM can use it for firefighting.
Also at the Battle Mountain Airport, the county is in the process of replacing its two 90,000 gallon fuel tanks with two, 25,000 gallon tanks, according to County Executive Director Jim Olson. One will have Av Gas and one will have jet fuel.
Each of the new tanks will be a self-contained, double-walled, stainless steel packaged modular unit on a skid. Once the new tanks are installed, the old ones will be demolished. The cost is around $600,000 with the FAA paying 93.75 percent. Olson said he is hoping for the project to be wrapped by before winter.
He said the large tanks are being replaced by smaller ones because the large tanks are not needed and the county does not want the gas to go bad by just sitting there.
The expansion of the Austin Airport's apron, which is being enlarged to comply with FAA regulations, was designed last year and is currently waiting on an FAA grant, Heithoff said.
Once the grant comes through, A & K Earth Movers will begin the project. The company, which is out of Fallon, was the low bidder. New pavement will also be laid. The FAA is paying for 93.75 percent of the Austin Airport project.
The county is also in the process of installing a fuel tank at the Austin Airport that will be 5,000 gallons and contain Av Gas. It will be a self-contained, double-walled, stainless steel packaged modular unit on a skid just like the Battle Mountain fuel tanks.
There is one private fuel tank at the Austin Airport right now but not a public one. Olson is hoping for it to be up and running before winter, he said. The cost is $300,000 and is being paid for by the county.
Also, at the Austin Airport, the water, sewer and septic systems are being completed at the new pilot's lounge. The modular building was donated last year by the school district, said Commissioner Patsy Waits, who sits on the Austin Airport Advisory Board.
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