Dent discusses Warden airport’s future with Port

WARDEN — Representative Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, attended Wednesday’s regular Port of Warden meeting to update the port on the potential of securing state funding to renovate the Warden Airport to the west of town.

“I have visited with WSDOT Aviation about your airport. To get more funding than they indicated to you would be a challenge. We have time,” Dent said. “I talked to them about making a trip over here to meet with you folks, walk on the runway, do whatever, kind of sit down and go over what you want to do, maybe make some plans, kind of look at the long term of what you want to accomplish here.”

According to WSDOT’s website, the deadline for aviation grant applications for the 2023-2025 round of awards is in May. 

“We don't have a lot of money in our coffers for the aviation account,” Dent said. “I'm trying to get more, just it's a challenge. I just struggle with not being able to increase our funding for our aviation infrastructure, but it's so important to our state. So, many of our folks in the legislature don't see that or understand how much aviation means to the state. It's a $108 million-a-year industry in the state.”

Dent said it would be helpful for the port’s case for funding to have documented some of their plans and hypothetical layouts for what they want to improve at the airport, the main concerns being runway length and a hill the runway currently rests on. 

“I’ll tell you what will help you. Make a plan. Decide what you want,” he said. “Kind of make a plan of where you want this airport to go, do you want to fix that or build a new one, whatever it is.”

    Warden Airport, pictured, needs repairs and renovations to keep it maintained and to sustain growth in Warden’s future. State Rep. Tom Dent, a pilot himself, stopped by the Port of Warden to discuss options Wednesday.
  

Dent said he has discussed the issue with other legislators.

“I had the chairman of the Transportation Committee here the first of August. I had him sit on the end of your runway, showed him the problem,” Dent said. “You know, he's not a pilot, but he got it, that it's a bad airport and that we need to fix this. For this town to grow, and it's poised to grow with the industry here, we need this airport.”

Port Commissioner Dale Pomeroy said he thought it would be more affordable to use the existing infrastructure at the airport and build on that rather than attempt to build a new airport somewhere else.

“Today, the technology has changed and the size of equipment,” he said. “To me, it'd be a lot cheaper today than it was 30 years ago to move that hill right into that hole.”

Consultant for the port Patrick Boss said the port needs to analyze the costs and benefits of renovating the current airport over building a new one or buying a nearby airport like the one in Lind, as well as do more planning about what direction the port wants to see the airport take. 

“There are people that have said, ‘Well, maybe we should go out and get that (Lind) airport and get rid of the current one and do an industrial park.’ There are other people that are saying ‘No, the one out by Lind won’t work, we need to upgrade the one in Warden,’” Boss said. “We're going to have to, I guess, make some decisions and decide what we're going to commit to. We have to be all in one way or the other. We can't be kind of halfway in.”

    Port of Warden staff and commissioners discuss potential plans for renovating Warden Airport with Representative Tom Dent during Wednesday’s regular meeting at the port’s offices.
  

Dent said WSDOT is open to considering the port’s plans for fixing the airport. 

“They're open to what you want and ready to talk to you. Can they promise anything? No. I can nudge them, and help you that way. I’ve been able to do that for different airports, get people moved to the top sometimes,” Dent said. “If we get this planning money, then I would take a look at what would it take to make this the first-class airport. I could see that could really make a difference, knock that hill down, make it a little bit longer.”

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