The Jefferson city council at its March 11 meeting approved the plans and specifications for an airport “fuel farm” to provide both aviation gas and jet fuel at the Jefferson municipal airport.
Estimated cost of the project is $916,650. The total includes three alternate bids: a remote fuel recover system for jet fuel at $10,000; as remote fuel recovery system for AV (aviation) gas at $10,000; and a tank monitoring system at $25,000.
City administrator Scott Peterson explained that by funding the project over two years, NPE (nonprimary entitlement) funds and IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) funds will pay 95 percent of the total cost. The city will advance the cost of the project until the second year of funding is received.
Peterson said he’s heard questions from the public about the status of the federal funds involved. He answered that there’s nothing to indicate the funds won’t be available, that they’re general funds that come to general aviation airports every year.
As a safeguard, Peterson said that in the bidding process, the bid will be issued to the selected contractor contingent on the city receiving the grant funds. “The worst case scenario is something happens and the grant funds don’t come together. Then we’re not obligated to the contract. Again, from what I’ve heard, everything is still status quo,” he said.
The bid opening will be April 15 with the council to award bids at its April 22 meeting. Construction will begin in the fall of 2025, with the tanks being installed in the spring of 2026.
The airport does not currently have jet fuel available, limiting its use by the small private jets for which the runway was recently extended.
The council approved the second readings of an ordinance allowing the use of fireworks on certain days and an ordinance changing the proposed July 1 sewer rate increase from 15 to 10 percent.
Peterson reported the public works crew has only 10 dead ash trees yet to remove from rights of way. He said they’re the most challenging trees due to powerlines or other structures. The crew has saved the city “hundreds of thousands of dollars” by removing the trees themselves rather than hiring the work out to a contractor.
Council member Darren Jackson, ex officio on the library board of trustees, reported the trustees voted to go forward with Amperage Marketing’s recommendations to trim back the proposed library expansion from the proposed $10 million project, but to move forward with an expansion project. The trustees are working with city attorney David Morain to establish a 501(c)3 to receive donations for the library.
