Money flies in for Grants airport expansion

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The tiny airport shared by the city of Grants and the village of Milan has been granted federal money for facility improvement.

U.S. Senator Pete Domenici announced in a May 2 press release that the Grants/Milan Airport will receive $187,058 to install a wildlife fence at the airport. Last year, the committee awarded the airport $47,000 to update the airport master plan.

Domenici said the Senate appropriations committee drew from the Airport Improvement Program funds for the grants. The senator sits on the committee, which funds the Federal Aviation Administration.

In its January 29 regular meeting, the Grants City Council voted $23,000 toward the cost of the 7,000 foot fence.

Airport Manager Wes Hobbs said the fence will be approximately seven feet tall and is designed to withstand large animals, from cattle to elk, who wander onto the runway and present a hazard to aircraft and themselves. He said so far there have been no dead cows or damaged aircraft but it is a matter of time.

“If something moves, they’ll knock it down,” the manager said. He explained that they have knocked down airport lights and other fixtures at the facility.

Hobbs said that since the airport has had cattle around the runway, he has bought on old truck and run them off from time to time.

“I saw a herd of females (elk) at sunset. It’s nice, but they could spook,” he added.

The potential of growth at the airport with the expected return of mining is also a concern.

“Grants and Cibola County are angling to increase their economic development activities and a safe municipal airport can be an asset in that effort,” Domenici said.

On site at the facility, Hobbs said that there will be more and more jet aircraft using the Grants/Milan airport. Already, Peabody Coal has a 19-person twin engine turbo-prop that is in and out of facility. Other companies bring in planes like the Hawker twin jets that hold 10 people or more, depending on the model.

These planes do not have the ground maneuverability of the smaller and slower prop engine planes. Once they are on the runway, jet planes are pretty much committed to their direction and cannot avoid a runway hazard, Hobbs said.

Grants City Manager Robert Horacek said the city will begin taking bids on the fence installation as soon as it receives confirmation of the award, an estimated 30 days from the time of the press release. Once a bid has been awarded, work can begin, said Horacek. He said the fence should be in place by the end of the summer or before.

The Milan village clerk said that although the village shares the cost and access to the airport, it does not have a part in running the airport in day to day matters such as cattle control.