During the September board meeting, the board approved the low bid by Busboom & Rauh for construction of Hangar No. 600 hangar bay, offices and customer service center. The Busboom & Rauh was the low bid for the base bid and all alternates. The Busboom bid will allow the Airport Authority to construct the hangar bay portion without center columns. The total budget for hangar construction is $4,885,000.
Civil work begins on Hangar 600.
On June 20, 2007 the Airport Authority entered into a lease agreement with the State of Kansas, Kansas Military Board for two tracts. The lease agreement provided the State an option to purchase the building and lots. The Kansas Military Board has informed the Airport Authority of its desire to purchase the building and lots. The proceeds from the sale of the building and lots will be used to retire $2.1 million in general obligation temporary notes that become due on January 1, 2008. The Salina Airport Authority board of directors approved the sale of building 3024 Arnold Avenue with lot and the Schilling Subdivision No. 5 lot to the State of Kansas, Military Board.
The 3024 Arnold Avenue building is already the new location for the Kansas Wing of Civil Air Patrol and will soon become the base of operations for a new 70 person Kansas Air National Guard Support and Operation Squadron. The building and lot will be used as a mobilization site and supply warehouse.
As the renovation project for Hangar Nos. 506-1 and 506-2 nears completion, one firm has committed to leasing a building. Mr. Steve Young d/b/a HRAD Group, LLC will occupy hangar No. 506-2 to establish a Schweizer Helicopter sales and maintenance business. The board approved the lease with Steve Young.
The Salina Airport Authority board of Directors also reviewed the proposed contract to purchase four manufacturing buildings consisting of 53,390 square feet on the north ramp. The Airport Authority Board approved the proposed contract.
August 2007 operations were 5,531 as compared to 6,370 in August 2006. For year-to-date total operations, SLN is down 2.5% from last year. The decrease is evenly distributed between both itinerant and local operations. Through the January to July 2007 time period, SLN still remains ranked as the top Kansas contract tower out of a total of eight airports.
Area travelers continue to respond favorably to the new flight schedule. For the month of August, 285 people boarded Mesa/Air Midwest flight. This is a significant increase over the August 2006 passenger numbers of 150. As of the end of August, the passenger enplanements for 2007 are 1,347: this is an increase over the previous two years.
Fuel flowage rebounded back above the 300,000-gallon level for August 2007 (317,909 gallons). Both FBO's saw decreases. Only K-State at Salina recorded an increase in fuel flowage. For the year to date total fuel flowage (2,599,245) is 4.9% ahead of the 2006 total of 2,476,524 gallons.
