Business View Magazine l January 2023

262 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 was on my top three list of capital projects to focus on. It’s going to widen the runway from 60 to 75 feet and strengthen the runway to support larger planes,” Walker continues. “We already have the medical aircraft and the fire aircraft that come in and this will create a safer runway for them as well as for those aviation folks flying. We have seen increasing flight activity, and this will certainly help stimulate economic growth here. The design is currently going on right now and construction will take place next summer.” “Then, with money from the bipartisan infrastructure funding law we are looking at land acquisition,” she continues. “That would be to protect the runway protection zone for our North runway and will allow Grant County to guarantee the safety of folks on the ground and for the planes that land. It is our way of ensuring there won’t be any development on land in that zone, ultimately prioritizing safety. We are also looking at Helipad construction.” Walker is quick to point out that the area experiences a significant amount of helicopter activity during the summer fire season and for this reason, having a safer place to land rather than grass and gravel will be a positive step for the users of the airport. “It could potentially bring in more air traffic because they know it’s a safe place to operate out of. As I mentioned earlier, our biggest and most important project is the fuel farm we are working on with the Economic Development office. We rely on fuel sales to generate revenue and we have had real trouble these last two summers in getting enough fuel delivered, “ Walker elaborates. “We currently have two 12,000-gallon fuel tanks; one is 100 low lead and the other is Jet A. We have been struggling to keep our inventory available in between deliveries and so we have been working with the state of Oregon to find funding to bring those underground storage tanks above ground, which