A new tower roof could eat half of Juneau airport's reserve, as pilots push for more

Juneau International Airport doesn't have much money set aside for the things federal grants won't cover — and on July 9, its board decides how to spend a big chunk of it. The item on the table: whether to commit nearly half the airport's roughly $110,000 capital reserve to match a federal grant for a new roof, hatch, and access ladder on the air traffic control tower, all original to its 1987 construction.

The math is tight. The FAA is covering the bulk of the roughly $1 million project, but the local share — about $51,000 — would eat 46 percent of the reserve, leaving around $59,000 for everything else. And plenty else is waiting: not all airport repairs qualify for federal money, so the board is also taking up a new framework for ranking the local-only projects competing for those thin dollars.

Some of that competition is getting vocal. More than 50 general aviation pilots have signed a letter disputing a finding in the airport's draft master plan that there's "no unmet demand" for aircraft fueling. Their biggest gripe: Juneau has a single fuel supplier, and pilots report paying roughly a 33 percent markup as a result. They want a second fuel source — and a range of other improvements — at least recognized in the plan, so the items can compete for funding down the road. They aren't asking for money now, just acknowledgment.

The pilots' letter is on the July 9 agenda too, but only for the board to receive — no action attached. Their comments arrived after the formal comment period closed; staff plan to fold them into the record. For now, the airport's thin reserve, and the line of needs pulling at it, is the real story.