Plans for Joint Idaho-Airport Fire Station Crash

After gliding on vapors for the past couple of months, plans for a joint city-airport fire station at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport officially crashed Wednesday.

The airport board voted 5-0 to pursue an independent station after Lewiston officials balked at the much higher than expected cost for the station that emerged earlier this year. Board Treasurer Pat Nuxoll said the money the airport invested in preliminary design and environmental work for the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF) station won't help much with the new plan.

"Whatever we've got sunk into this ARFF station over here is gone," Nuxoll said, gesturing in the direction of the site to the east of the terminal selected by airport and city officials last year.

That number currently stands at $133,000, but will probably climb as high as $150,000 after remaining bills come due. Airport Manager Chris Hayes said about $23,000 spent on environmental assessments might give the airport the knowledge to forego some of that expense on the independent station.

The airport needs the new station to house a federally funded ARFF truck that is set to arrive next year. It was hoped the station would be completed in time for the arrival of the truck, which provides the rescue capability required by the Federal Aviation Administration for continued commercial passenger service.

Hayes said conversations with regional FAA officials have yielded essentially two options: put off construction of the station until 2018 because the window for securing federal funding for the 2017 cycle is quickly closing; or front as much as $500,000 in design costs this year that can be reimbursed by the FAA next year.

Spending airport money now could keep the project on track for construction in 2017. But Hayes cautioned that if the next Congress doesn't pass the transportation funding that pays for the grant, the airport could be left holding the bag.

"We'll have a real dandy set of (blue) prints," Nuxoll joked.

Still, board members came to a consensus to try and keep the station on its original schedule by paying for design work this year. Nuxoll said the airport could probably come up with the money to pay for the work.

"As long as Pat is somewhat financially comfortable, we need to keep the pedal to the metal," Board Chairman Bill McCann Jr. said.

The cost of the airport station isn't known, but Hayes estimated the FAA will provide about $4 million for its construction. The price for a joint station exploded to almost $7.8 million earlier this year, with the city covering about $4.3 million of that cost.

Last year, city officials were told it would cost less than half that amount for their share. McCann blamed much of the expanded cost on as much as $1.8 million in site work, like large retaining walls that would allow each entity's vehicles to leave the station at ground level.

Earlier this week, Lewiston Fire Chief Travis Myklebust said the city still needs to replace its aging Station No. 4 at the airport, and can do so at a far lower cost. That station will continue to cover firefighting and aircraft rescue needs at the airport until the ARFF station is built, Hayes said.

Airport officials said it hasn't been determined how the airport will pay for the firefighters that will operate the ARFF truck. Possibilities include using city firefighters, coming up with the money themselves, or subcontracting with a private business.

McCann said the airport may pursue a multi-use facility with space for offices and a shop in addition to firefighting space. The offices could replace the existing airport administration space at the terminal, Nuxoll said. That space could then be rented out to generate revenue for the airport.

Board members also discussed a potential location for an independent station. Hayes said building it near the airport's partially developed business park to the south of the runways would make sense because some site work has already been completed.

McCann tasked Hayes with assembling a report on the potential sites so board members can make an informed decision at a future meeting.

Mills may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2266.

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