Juneau airport board to vote on $4.6 million for snow-removal equipment

The Juneau International Airport Board is scheduled to vote Thursday, Oct. 8, on about $4.9 million to replace and expand the airport's snow-removal fleet with two front-end loaders, a runway broom, two sanders and two snow blowers.

Staff are asking the board to appropriate $4,611,205 in Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program money and $250,000 from the airport's fund balance, and to create a capital project for the purchase. Staff expect the local share to be paid back through passenger facility charges, the fees added to airline tickets to pay for airport projects.

The equipment is used to clear runways, taxiways, ramps and other operating areas during snow and ice, according to the agenda. Staff wrote that the purchase would improve reliability in winter weather and support airfield maintenance the FAA requires.

The local share comes from the fund balance rather than the airport's capital reserve, which holds about $59,000 after the match for a control tower roof grant drew it down, as Alaska News reported. Staff are preparing a final passenger facility charge application for FAA review. If the FAA approves it, money the airport fronted for earlier projects would flow back into the reserve.

The board will also consider $250,420 in federal money to design an elevator giving passengers an accessible route between the terminal and the outside level used for ground loading, and whether to recommend that the Assembly accept a $1,149,460 grant to repaint runway, taxiway and other airfield markings through federal fiscal year 2029. It will also discuss selling or leasing the former Hertz wash bay building and how federal rules limit transferring airport revenue to the city's General Fund.

Residents can sign up to testify before Thursday's vote.