Repairs under way

Poorly timed spring storms, soft subgrade soil and complications on another project have made for slow progress on taxiway rehabilitation underway at Shively Field this spring. If all goes according to plan, however, the paving process will be completed by June 17, said Dave Shultz of Sage Engineering.

Shultz and his colleague Brek Ibach were presenting what should be one of Sage’s last progress reports on the taxiway project at a sparsely attended June 9 meeting of the airport board.

In his report, Shultz estimated that a test strip of pavement would be completed by June 14, and barring problems, full-production paving will take an additional 1.5 days.

Though lines have yet to be painted and some mulching, seeding and edge work will remain to be done on the turf surrounding the pavement, the paving is the last major component of construction for the taxiway.

In the items from the public section of the meeting, area resident Dave Worthington reminded those present that mosquito abatement is set to begin June 20. Two planes (one for the county and one for Saratoga) will be flying out of Shively Field to do the spraying, Worthington said.

Board member Richard Raymer said he toured the airport last week with a representative of Pine Cove Consulting. The board has been considering hiring the firm to install three security cameras at Shively, and has budgeted about $5,000 for that purpose.

In previous meetings, the board has cited aircraft safety, remote-monitoring of weather conditions and security for jet fuel and other airport property as reasons to install the equipment. Raymer said he was waiting to hear back from Pine Cove as to whether the firm could complete the camera installation project within the board’s $5,000 budget.

Kent Smith reported that he had completed the last of the hangar inspections at Shively, and that all hangars seemed to be safe and in good order.

The next meeting of the airport board will be held 3 p.m. July 14 at Saratoga Town Hall.