Comment closes Thursday on 18-year rent-free FAA lease at Chenega Bay Airport

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities is deciding whether to execute an 18-year, rent-free lease with the FAA covering an electrical junction box and underground utility lines that power an off-airport automated weather observing system, the equipment that reports the conditions pilots need to land. Written comments are due by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. The airport sits one nautical mile northeast of the village on Evans Island in Prince William Sound and serves as the community's primary air access.

The department filed the proposal without competitive bidding. "This is an application filed under AS 02.15.090(c), which allows the Department to grant the proposed lease without competition," the notice said.

The FAA proposal follows a separate 30-year renewal of Chenega's public-airport lease, running from July 14, 2028 through July 13, 2058.