Airport needs new lights

The height of the warning lights at the South Lake Tahoe Airport has landed on the city's high-priority list.

The city of South Lake Tahoe approved matching funds Tuesday night for a Federal Aviation Administration grant that will cover the cost of mandated FAA safety regulations.

The city, which spends $300,000 a year in airport funding, according to airport manager Rick Jenkins, is forking over an additional $23,516 in matching funds. In return, the FAA will contribute $389,872 to the project.

"If we don't do the lights this season, (the FAA) will shut us down," Jenkins told councilmembers Tuesday night.

The airport has 17 obstruction lights designed to warn pilots of tree height. However, the 30- and 40-year-old wooden poles are positioned below tree height and are a safety hazard, Jenkins said.

The airport will replace the 17 lights with six brighter lights set on steel poles which will reach a height of 100 feet. Beacon lights on Twin Peaks and East Peak will also be replaced. The airport will also install an emergency generator that will prevent problems during conditions when pilots must rely on their instruments.

The grant that has been pending matching city funds for "several years," according to Jenkins, will pay for the design and construction, permits from Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the U.S. Forest Service, as well as administrative expenses.

"There are certain standards that FAA requires for all airports," said Ray Chiang, project engineer for the FAA Western Pacific Region. "The money is already available. Normally they propose a project and we evaluate it. Once a grant is executed, the airport would need to supply the plans and specs and we would reimburse them as the project progressed."

Design for the project has already been completed and construction by Harker and Harker Inc. could begin as soon as Aug. 15. Jenkins is hopeful that the project will be completed by the end of this year's building season, which is Oct. 15.

The City Council will hold a public meeting in early August to discuss the future of the airport and the possibility of resuming commercial airline service. However, opposition to commercial air service was expressed by some councilmembers.

"Quite frankly, if I get the vote, I will vote against the airline for one simple reason: If they are there for a year and it doesn't work out, we will have wasted time that we could have used exploring other options for the airport," Councilmember Bill Crawford said.