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  • Airports were previously designed to have all taxiing aircraft cut through the apron, which is shown in blue. The new taxiway — in red — will allow traffic to avoid the apron where planes often load and unload. Provided

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July 16, 2011

Stillwater airport project ready to go pending federal grant money

By Ricky O'Bannon Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — The city of Stillwater and the Airport Authority are moving quickly to ensure they make use of federal grant money once it becomes available to use for a $4 million airport project.

Stillwater Regional Airport has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission on a project to build a new taxiway. The majority of the nearly $4 million price tag would be grant money, and Stillwater would be responsible for $181,589, or roughly 5 percent, of the total cost.

Airport Director Gary Johnson said many of the older airports similar to Stillwater’s were built during a period when it was popular to run an airport taxiway through its apron. Planes loading and unloading on the apron took priority while planes that just landed either waited or navigated around.

The new taxiway (in red on the map) would let planes bypass the apron and allow ground traffic to move easier.

While the airport expects to receive the grant, exactly how much and when will depend on how much FAA project funding Congress awards. So far, FAA is being financed by a series of continuing resolutions.

The Stillwater City Council authorized the mayor Monday to sign and proceed with grant applications. The airport also took bids on the project that same day.

FAA officials told Johnson to go ahead with the bidding process, he said, and prepare a contract so the airport would be ready to act in the limited window when funds were available. The grant should be authorized by July 22, Johnson said.

The Airport Authority included a clause in the project’s contract with TKK Construction Company, which was awarded the bid, in case the grant total is any less than anticipated.

Last fall, the authority updated the apron to remove old markings from the old taxiway, Johnson said, and also sealed the surface. That addition brought the engineers’ estimate to approximately $4.5 million for the entire project. TKK Construction bid $4,321,758 on the total project, but also allowed for a “notice of limited funds” in case of unanticipated expenditures.

This means the contractor and the authority agreed to an alternate scenario that would eliminate the work on the apron and some supplies to lower the price to $3,647,740.

It is possible, Johnson said, that even if the airport receives the smaller amount, it could be authorized by the FAA at a later date to finish work on the apron.

While it would be nice to add the apron, Airport Authority Chair Jerry Franklin said the work on the taxiway had always been the biggest component of the project.

“We added the apron on (after the original grant proposal) with the expectation that funding could be available, and it still could be available,” Franklin said. “It’s just not available at this date.”

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