Port of Othello continues work toward airport plan

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.