Runway 18-36 at the Del Norte County Regional Airport is showing alligator cracking and other signs of wear. | Photo courtesy of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

Previously:

• Airport Authority Members Each Asked to Kick In $77,000 For Runway Rehab; Construction Anticipated For 2024

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Each member agency of a joint powers authority overseeing the Del Norte County Regional Airport will kick in enough funding for it to move forward with a runway rehabilitation project next year.

Border Coast Regional Airport Authority members pledged a total of $415,000 toward a mill and overlay of Runway 18-36 at Jack McNamara Field. That money will account for the 5 percent required match the BCRA needs to contribute to receive Federal Aviation Administration dollars toward the project.

According to Airport Director Ryan Cooley, 95 percent of the $8-$9.2 million project is expected to come from FAA grant dollars, entitlement funds and passenger facility charges. Airport staff began approaching each member agency in January.

“This is truly a show of partnership, community and commitment for all involved,” Cooley said in a written statement Tuesday, “and we are so very thankful for the contributions pledged toward the project.”

The mill and overlay of Runway 18-36 involves removing the top layer of asphalt and replacing it with new pavement, restoring the runway to “like-new condition,” Cooley told the Outpost in March.
The project will also overhaul and upgrade the runway’s lighting system, replacing the incandescent lights with LEDs, which are brighter and easier to maintain, Cooley said.

According to a breakdown of who kicked in what, Del Norte County, Crescent City, Elk Valley Rancheria and the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation each pledged $77,000 toward the project. Del Norte County included the caveat of potentially increasing the funding based on other members’ contributions, Cooley said in an email Tuesday.

Curry County will kick in $38,500 in the 2023-24 fiscal year and another $38,500 for 2024-25. The City of Brookings agreed to contribute $10,000 per year for three years toward the 5 percent match, according to Cooley.

In addition to contributing $77,000, the Crescent City Council in April directed staff to budget an additional $10,000 annually for capital improvements at the airport. This request comes ahead of the rehabilitation of the airport’s second runway, Runway 12-30, which is planned for 2027.

In March, Cooley said that runway project as well as the rehabilitation of the airport’s taxiways is included in the national Airports Capital Improvement Plan, which the FAA uses to prioritize airport developments and distribute grant dollars.

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