REEDLEY – Future plans for the local airport are now clear for takeoff following the most recent city council meeting.
On Sept. 8, Community Services Director Sarah Reid presented the council with the Airport Capital Improvement Plan (ACIP) funding summary for fiscal years 2027-2032. This annual report ensures that Reedley Municipal Airport can continue to receive Airport Improvement Program grant funding, which will be essential to support future projects such as runway lighting replacements and taxiway improvements.
“The Airport Improvement Program provides grant funding to support qualifying airports, which our airport is,” Reid said to the council. “We participate in the program, and it helps us do bigger ticket capital projects related to our infrastructure, runways, taxiways, airport signage, lighting, markings and all of the safety aspects that we have out at the airport.”
Reedley Municipal Airport receives around $150,000 annually through the Airport Improvement Program entitlement funding, which Reid said accounts for about 90% of project costs. The city’s Airport Enterprise Account is typically responsible for the remaining 10%, but Reid noted that additional state funding — when available — can bring the city’s match as low as 5% for some projects.
According to Reid, construction of the airport’s new fuel farm is aimed to begin within the next few months, but since the project has previously been such a high priority, it has “kind of depleted our banks of money that were building up to be able to do capital projects.” To build the airport’s entitlement dollars back up, Reid pointed out that the ACIP includes a gap year with no projects in 2029, which will help build up the funding needed to support the projects slated for 2030-2032.
Planned for 2027 is the installation of runway end lights, followed by replacement of the runway edge lights to LEDs in 2028 which Reid said is of particular importance.
“We have very old, aging infrastructure, and we have only been able to find one vendor at this point who can provide these lights that we still currently have,” Reid said to the council. “We need to get these upgraded and changed out to make them more efficient, and to be able to change them out more effectively.”
Another important project is set for 2030, which will see a master plan update. According to Reid, the current master plan that the city has with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was drafted to be relevant through 2020, and with many changes having come to the airport within the last six years, she emphasized the need for an update.
Reid explained to the council that beyond adding one more row of hangars to the airport, any future additions or improvements would need to be “piecemealed together” to the current master plan, which she said would require additional FAA approval and higher costs.
“This project that we have slated for (2030) is very important to the future of the airport and what it will look like for the next 10-15 years,” Reid said.
In 2031, the airport will undergo taxiway improvements which include crack and seal coats. Slated for 2032 is replacement of the taxiway end lights to LEDs.
During council comments, Mayor Matthew Tuttle commended Reid and city staff for their work on the airport, most notably in keeping the city’s contribution to the $3 million fuel farm relatively low. City Manager Nicole Zibea added on by saying the farm will be a landmark project for not just the city of Reedley, but the region as a whole, when it comes to transitioning aircrafts to unleaded fuel.
“We will be one of the few airports around the state, so we’re really on the cutting edge to have unleaded fuel at the airport,” said Zieba.
With this update received, the council voted unanimously to authorize Zieba to sign the ACIP and its supporting documents off to the FAA. Councilmember Michael Crutchfield was absent.
