Financial talk takes off

The Airport Board meeting of June 10, 2020 began with discussion of an aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) truck that Riverton, Wyoming is getting rid of. Jon Nelson, council representative, said that it is not a right fit for the Town of Saratoga. However, as discussion progressed, other board members seemed to sway in favor of the ARFF.

Riverton is giving up the vehicle, which only has approximately 380 hours of use on it, because they do not want to keep dumping money into it. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would also require maintenance, up-keep and training on the equipment, adding to its expenses.

Currently the ARFF is not completely operational. The transmission has issues, the shaft pump to the transmission cooler snapped because it was shifting incorrectly, the gasket around the roof cannon is shot and the tires overheat if driven over 40 m.p.h. on roadways.

According to the board, there are two courses that are available for training on the truck. The problem with the training is that it can last 10 days to two weeks. The volunteer firemen would have to use their own vacation or miss work for the training.

Discussion regarding the price of the ARFF was not disclosed or discussed, but there is a possibility that Riverton may just give the vehicle away. A new ARFF costs more than $500,000. Since the cost of repairs is likely much less than the cost of a new ARFF, the board agreed that further research would be done to see if repairing the vehicle would make the expenditure worth while.

The meeting was then opened to items from the public. Jesse Fabula of Armstrong Consultants, Inc. was present to see if Shively Field would be interested in participating in a campaign to reach out to legislators when it comes to budget cuts. The idea is to be vocal about the value of the airport so that funding is not reduced.

According Ladd Sanger, ”We don’t have the ability to fund the airport to the level of service it needs to draw the heavy jet traffic that comes to this valley. The Town of Saratoga has been carrying the majority of funding versus the county on some of these things. Brush Creek, A-Bar-A Ranch, etc. are outside of town, but still in the county and thats a benefit to the state. So, the state needs to be looking at the net positives for tourism…this airport is providing to this whole south central part of the state”.

The proposed project will have no cost associated with it, so the airport board will be inputting a message that will be shared with the Town Council and then forwarded on to the House Representatives.

Next, the financial report was discussed. Nelson made a motion to make recommendation to the Town Council to transfer the excess of revenue over expenditures for the current fiscal year into the reserve account. The motion unanimously passed.

In the discussion of old business, the continuity plan suggested by Cathy MacPherson during the May 13 meeting had not yet been completed. Research is still being done to find a plan to use as a template that will be fitting for a small airport such as Shively Field.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Airport Board will be at 3:30 p.m. on July 8.