— from Susan McBain, Orcas Issues reporter —

It’s complicated.

That’s the one thing that’s perfectly clear about the Port of Orcas’s draft Airport Master Plan, and the context in which it was developed. Browsing through the links on the Port’s web page on the Master Plan makes that obvious.

At their December 19 regular meeting, the four Port Commission members present—Brian Ehrmantraut, Greg Sawyer, Dwight Guss, and Steve Hopkins—spent a majority of their time trying to explain to those attending why the Master Plan is needed, what is required to be in it, and how it might translate into actual projects at the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Airport Improvement Program (AIP) is a nationwide grant program, from which the Port currently is entitled to $150,000 per year. That amount is a significant chunk of the Port’s capital budget, and it can be carried over into following years to fund future projects in the Plan at a level of 90%. The last Master Plan was adopted in 1994 and amended in 2008. To continue being eligible for the program, the Port was required to develop a new Airport Master Plan projecting its possible activities for the next 20 years. Work began in fall of 2017 and should be complete in March 2019.

The Plan has three phases: less than 8 years, 8–19 years, and 20 years and beyond. In the current “preferred alternative,” the first phase includes development of the southeast area (the old dog park), relocation of part of the taxiway (no land acquisition required), rehabilitation and resurfacing of the runway with displaced thresholds (ends of the runway), relocation of a midfield connecting taxiway, purchase of a north Runway Protection Zone parcel that is available for sale, a land swap with Eastsound Water Users Association, and relocation of the fuel facility.

The version of the Plan presented at the September 19 Port Open House showed these projects as occurring in the second phase of the plan. However, because of the possibility of additional AIP funding and resulting savings for taxpayers, the Port elected to shift some projects into the first phase. Maps of the plans are available from the Port’s Master Plan page.

The FAA sets requirements for what the plan must include to qualify for the AIP. As Commission Chair Brian Ehrmantraut put it, “At the highest level this master plan is basically a list of the deficiencies [from FAA standards] at the airport, plus a few improvements that we want to do for our own purposes. Anything we do has to be on the list for us to get the 90% funding participation. It doesn’t mean we’re going to do all these things. It’s almost unimaginable how you’d go about fixing some of these deficiencies, like Mt. Baker Rd. They all have to be on the list, but there’s no project or schedule for a project until we actually decide to undertake one.”

Commissioner Greg Sawyer agreed. “A lot of the deficiencies that exist are real, but they’re so huge we’ll never be able to do them. Scary things like dealing with Mt. Baker Road or Brandt’s Landing—ridiculous! There are so many hurdles, including costs, property ownership, and many other factors. But they still have to be on the list. And we can make progress on some things like safety separation, and those are real things that you, the public, can have input on.”

“Right now all we’re saying is, would you like us to have the opportunity to continue applying for federal grant money? If we don’t finish the Master Plan, we lose that opportunity, and it’s hard to get it again. And we get a lot of really good things done here with that AIP money—like purchase of the southeast parcel and a new approach lighting system.”

“When we do plan a project, there is a public process,” Sawyer continued. “What there hasn’t been is anybody paying attention. We’ve had meetings for years, but there’s not much activity. So we don’t know that we’re not reaching you.”

Attending the meeting were Susan Malins, Sadie Bailey, Katie Wilkins, and Kimberly Secunda, who noted, “It’s so difficult to understand; we just see the list [of potential projects], and everyone worries about death by a thousand cuts. We don’t even know what we don’t know. It’s been explained but not understood. Please find a translator for us.”

Malins stated, “It has felt like you’ve been saying, these are our plans, this is what’s on paper, but we’re probably never going to do it. That’s really hard to figure out, to understand, and to trust. But transparency seem to be improving.”

Also discussed at the meeting were Tony Simpson’s departure date as airport manager (Feb. 24), plans for seeking a new airport manager, and plans to seek an alternative contractor for the wetlands mitigation project south of the airport to keep the project’s costs lower.

Previous Orcas Issues articles covered meetings held on June 5, July 26, and Sept. 12; those articles contain additional information on the Master Plan and process. The Port Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10, at 4:30 in the Port conference room at the airport terminal.

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