July 15 council meeting: Council receives updates on multitude of projects
Councilors discussed airport revenue, gas line replacement, and fire protection during work session.
Efforts to “reconnect the airport to the community” were presented by Los Alamos Airport Manager Gary Goddard during a Los Alamos County Council work session July 15 in White Rock, including design updates to fully meet Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations.
The mid-century military terminal building was constructed by the U.S. government in 1946, and Los Alamos County assumed control of the airport in 1996. Its hangars on the west side of the field are located within the safety zone of the runway, and to meet FAA regulations the main taxiway needs to be redesigned to eliminate conflicts on and around the runway.
“We have funding opportunities from the FAA and NMDOT to implement the projects,” Goddard said.
A contract is being finalized that would allow the construction of eight “T-hangars” between the existing hangars and a new fuel farm, he said, which would allow for the demolition of the old hangars and a redesign of the airport entrance road and parking lot.
At the most recent airport open house on June 28, which drew more than 1,000 attendees, Goddard said a recurring question from visitors was: “How can we get involved with aviation?” He said there are significant hurdles to answering that question.
Flying into the airport can be daunting, Goddard said, especially for new or inexperienced pilots. The combination of the high altitude, terrain, wind, and airspace restrictions over LANL pose significant hazards to airport operations. The field’s location and geography also constrain any expansion efforts, with residential areas to the west, canyons to the north and south, and a large Department of Energy environmental remediation area near the center of the field.
The airport currently serves as a base of operations for about 50 private aircraft, visiting pilots, seasonal firefighting helicopters, and Classic Air Medical, a helicopter transport service owned by Intermountain Health. Several local pilots are certified flight instructors, but the lack of on-site aircraft rental and repair facilities limits the field’s use for pilot training, according to Goddard, and the contingent of private pilots based at the airport is “growing older without sufficient younger replacements.”
Goddard said he is also working to diversify revenue-generating activities. Airport hangar rentals currently bring in $80,000 annually. The recently completed NMDOT-funded fuel farm is projected to generate annual profits of $100,000 from fuel sales.
More upgrades and amenities are needed though, as Goddard said he gets “a call every day” about the availability of rental cars. He thinks there’s a case for reviving the rental car concession at the airport.
“We’ve gotten a lot of data from the lab about how they’d support it,” he said. “Our next step is to talk to the rental car companies.”
Along with raising awareness through community activities like open houses, local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter workshops, and the annual Santa Fly-In, Goddard said he and the county are promoting the terminal building “as a place for small events.” With a maximum capacity of approximately 50 people, he hopes it could become “a great place” for lectures, book clubs, and other smaller gatherings. In the longer term, it could even play a role as a welcome station for tourists as “a gateway to Los Alamos.”
Councilor Beverly Neal-Clinton inquired about the funding sources for the planned hangar construction project. Goddard acknowledged that he anticipated “some funding shortfalls that we’ll talk about at another session,” but said the majority of the project would be covered by NMDOT funding.
Councilor Randall Ryti asked if NMDOT was likely to fund another grant for commercial service, and Goddard noted that the previous grants in 2012 and 2016 failed at developing the business case for commercial service, so it was unlikely that NMDOT would provide funding again. The economic case for commercial service to and from Los Alamos is also made weaker by Santa Fe’s recent $21.5 million airport expansion campaign.
Ryti also brought up the ongoing issue of community noise complaints about helicopters. Goddard said he’s been discussing the issue with the operator, Intermountain Health, and said that the company was looking for crew housing closer to the airport so it can relocate all operations from Los Alamos Medical Center to the airport.
A longer-term solution could be for Intermountain Health to build a dedicated facility for their entire operation, including on-site housing for pilots and nurses, but this is unlikely to happen before airport upgrades are completed in 2027 or 2028. Goddard said he’s been “pushing lightly” for Intermountain Health to come up with a solution, but he hasn’t received an update.
“I think there are many people eager to see something happen faster than three years from now,” Ryti said.
Elk Ridge gas line replacement
Philo Shelton, manager of the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities, provided an update on the progress of the Elk Ridge Mobile Home Park natural gas system replacement project, which began this week after months of negotiation and planning.
Yes! Communities, the Colorado-based owner of the park, began installing a new $1.1 million gas distribution system to replace the legacy DOE-managed network of gas lines, which in more than a few cases pass directly under residents’ homes. The county is set to spend $400,000 to provide the metering infrastructure to connect the nearly 175 homesites and take responsibility for purging and abandoning the old gas line system when the new system comes online in approximately 90 days.
Jemez Mountain Fire Protection Pipeline
During an update on the construction of the $18 million Jemez Mountain Fire Protection project along Camp May Road, Shelton said that trenching and installation for the first half of the pipeline has been underway for a few months and is expected to finish on schedule in the fall at a cost of almost $5 million. Construction on the $2.5 million 500,000-gallon water tank on West Road will also begin at the end of this month. The entire project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2026.
Shelton said that the pipeline itself is covered by a grant from the state but clarified that those funds cannot be used for the water tank, pumping stations, or any of the electrical infrastructure work.
Funding to construct the four pumping stations along the pipeline to transfer water to the top of Pajarito Mountain is uncertain. The county has applied for a FEMA grant of approximately $4 million that would be used to cover those costs, but it is waiting for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to sign off on the grant award.
“We’re past due on getting an answer,” Ryti said. “I assume at some point it’ll be too late? What is that date?”
Shelton said the current work on the project is expected to be done at the end of September and said that a decision on who will be responsible for the remaining costs of the project would have to be made then.
The Los Alamos County Council is scheduled to meet on July 29 for a regular meeting.