Sunday, March 16, 2025
37.0°F

Port of Othello continues work toward airport plan

GABRIEL DAVIS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year AGO
by GABRIEL DAVIS
Gabriel Davis is a resident of Othello who enjoys the connections with his sources. Davis is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene University where he studied English and creative writing. During his free time, he enjoys reading, TV, movies and games – anything with a good story, though he has a preference for science fiction and crime. He covers the communities on the south end of Grant County and in Adams County. | February 22, 2024 6:53 PM

OTHELLO — Port of Othello Executive Director Chris Faix gave an update on some of the port’s progress with its ongoing projects, mainly working with J-U-B Engineers to develop an Airport Layout Plan and entering the process of designing the incoming Bruce Water Tower. 

The port is past due to update its ALP, Faix said, which establishes a guideline for the port-owned Othello Municipal Airport’s next 20 years of operations.

“It's not like if you say this is what you're going to do, you have to do it in that order,” he said, “but it just gives you a direction to go, and kind of a game plan to follow.”

Faix said J-U-B looked into what other airports' plans looked like, what the airport needs and what the Federal Aviation Administration requires.

“The commissioners were all in agreement, and they all thought it looked good,” he said. 

The airport plan is not incredibly involved, but will still see improvements and additions in the coming years.

“We're still a small rural airport; we're not adding a tower, and we're not gonna be landing any jets and flying around the world or anything,” Faix said. “This next year we're going to do some pavement rehab, we're going to do some crack filling and a little bit of resurfacing and stuff. Most of the airport’s in good shape; there are a few little minor problems here and there, but we've been told by numerous pilots that we have a very nice, good runway with good pavement on it, and we want to keep it that way.”

Faix said the port will have to close the runway sometime in the summer to make the necessary repairs, which are funded by an annual Capital Investment Plan grant from the FAA.

“We eventually want to add an (Airport Weather Advisor) system or a weather station. We've had a lot of people asking for one of those,” Faix said. “That way, like Life Flight, now they call and want to know, ‘What's the weather at the Othello Airport,’ and we don't have a weather station there. So now they'll be able to log in just to our weather station, once we get this, so that’ll be nice to add.”

Faix said that beyond the 5-year plan, the port plans to expand the airport’s offerings.

“In six to 10 (years), we want to add a little more pavement and add the possibility of some business hangers…possibly adding some more stuff out that way and begin construction, because that goes hand in hand with getting some more water storage for fire suppression,” he said. 

Depending on demand, Faix said the airport could see more hangars in the 11 to 20-year range as well. The airport’s hangars are currently full, Faix said, but don’t have a waiting list.

Faix said there will be a public hearing on the airport plan during Tuesday’s regular port meeting, which begins at 9:30 a.m. and is located at 705 E. Hemlock St.

“We're required just to put that out to the public to get their input before we can officially send it to the FAA and have it implemented,” he said. “It'd be nice if somebody wanted to come and give us some good feedback, or if you have a problem with it, we'd like to hear that too, and we can make some adjustments.”

The Bruce Water Tower project is also moving forward with J-U-B, Faix said, with a tentative finish date for the project.

“They said, just to be safe, now we're looking at March, early spring 2026,” he said. “I keep hoping maybe we’ll be able to break ground this fall, after the farm season, but I'm always told to slow down, it takes a while to get all this stuff ready. But I think once we break ground, it should start going pretty fast.”

A second public hearing will also be held at Tuesday’s meeting regarding the port’s redistricting process. 

“We have been in the process,” Faix said. “It just kind of zigged here and zagged there a little bit to make sure that each area would have the relatively same number of voters for when commissioners come up.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

    Port of Othello Executive Director Chris Faix points to a picture of the Othello Municipal Airport while discussing the Airport Layout Plan with the port commissioners and representatives of J-U-B Engineers during the regular Feb. 13 meeting.
 
 
    A row of hangars sits on the northern edge of the Othello Municipal Airport runway. The Port of Othello’s Airport Layout Plan acts as a guideline for the airport’s next 20 years of operations, including the possibility of adding additional hangars.
 
 


MORE STORIES

Port of Othello discusses potential for Othello Airport FBO
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 1 year, 4 months ago
Port of Othello lowers airport water costs
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 1 year ago
Adams Building and Planning discusses planning commission
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 1 year, 2 months ago

ARTICLES BY GABRIEL DAVIS

Work-based learning lets students build their own futures
July 25, 2024 1 a.m.

Work-based learning lets students build their own futures

MOSES LAKE — Work-based learning provides education opportunities for the workforce to receive hands-on training and technical education and prepare themselves to enter various industries. Educators and workforce development professionals from Eastern Washington discussed some the training they offer and the benefits of their programs. Next Generation Zone, an affiliate of WorkSource based in Spokane, provides job training opportunities for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24. Program Coordinator Kate Martin said there are multiple benefits to the program. “One of them is a paid work experience, and that’s where we reach out to area employers who are willing to take a young person and train them,” she said. “This is a short-term learning experience, so it’s typically about 240 hours; sometimes it could be longer or shorter. We’re the actual employer; we cover all of their wages, taxes, the L&I, and the employer just agrees to give them the experience and train them in whatever field it is that they’re wanting to go into.”

Serving schools: ESD superintendents reflect on operations, priorities
July 10, 2024 1 a.m.

Serving schools: ESD superintendents reflect on operations, priorities

MOSES LAKE — Educational service districts are government-mandated agencies put in place to provide services to school districts across the state. ESD Superintendents discussed what they do and their priorities in operating their districts. ESD 105, led by Superintendent Kevin Chase, serves four counties, including Kittitas, Yakima and portions of Klickitat and Grant counties and provides support for 25 school districts – including Royal School District and Wahluke School District – and more than 66,000 students. “We help them collaborate with each other as well or collaborate with other partners,” Chase said. “(It’s) a lot of advocacy work, either regionally or across the state, or even federally, working on different issues that impact our education. And we provide very specialized services in certain situations in order to meet the needs of our students in our region and of our school districts.”

Columbia Basin Project making headway through Odessa Groundwater program
June 25, 2024 1 a.m.

Columbia Basin Project making headway through Odessa Groundwater program

CASHMERE — The Columbia Basin Project is making gradual progress toward completion with particularly significant accomplishments for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program in the last six months or so, according to Columbia Basin Development League Executive Director Sara Higgins. “When we’re dealing with a project of this size, advancement is kind of like watching paint dry, but yes, there have been (developments),” she said. “There are a lot of exciting things happening right now.” There are more than 300 miles of main canals, about 2,000 miles of lateral canals and 3,500 miles of drains and wasteways in the irrigation project, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation website. The CBDL advocates for the operation of those waterways and for the project to continue “build-out.”