Available development space increased at airport
Two grants to help cover costs of airport master plan scope of work for the Rifle airfield
PRESS RELEASE
August 21, 2024
Garfield County is increasing the amount of available land around the Rifle Garfield County Airport to provide more development space for expanded uses. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) directed staff to move forward with request for concept plans (RFCP), welcoming additional available land leases at the airport.
“Today is a red-letter day for Garfield County,” said Rifle Garfield County Airport Director Brian Condie. “I’m very pleased to bring this to the county, helping the airport move forward for the next decade.”
There are eight parcels on which RFCPs can be filed to develop both aeronautical and nonaeronautical use at the airport. Suitable development land resides on both the east and west sides of the airport’s main apron, including two parcels on taxiway B4 and six on taxiway B5.
The parcels vary in size from 62,319 square feet (parcel A7) to 128,388 sq ft. (parcel B1), with all taxiway B5 parcels larger than 100,000 sq ft.
Deposits in the amount of $75,000 are required for on each development parcel, and an evaluation team must make a recommendation on the proposal, which must also be approved by the BOCC.
“Once the potential developers are committed, they’ll come back with a full development plan within a negotiated timeline,” Condie said. “If they do not, they can back out, but the deposit is nonrefundable.”
The evaluation team is still being formed and will include airport experts and local stakeholders. The county aims to establish the evaluation team by mid-October.
“I want to make sure that we’ve got good, quality people making sound decisions,” said Commissioner Mike Samson of the evaluation team. “I try to make every decision I make from this seat the best for Garfield County and not just for a private individual or a corporation. My charge to you is to find those individuals that share that philosophy of what’s best for Garfield County. Those are the people I want on that team, so when they come before us, I have faith, trust, and confidence in them.”
“The airport is a county asset, and the decision for (who is appointed to) the evaluation team is to be made within the county itself,” added Jesse Fabula, client manager for Armstrong Consultants, which is assisting the county with its new airport master plan process. “That is something that you get to steer the ship on. This is really where your individual voice as a county comes into play.”
Both the airport master plan and the airport layout plan were utilized to guide the county how to best make the land available to the public. Factors include what’s best for the airport, the community, and general aviation in the region.
Through the process, county and airport staff identified areas they wanted to open to the public, and prioritized them according to the airport layout plan, which was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“We’re a federally obligated airport, so we must make the airport available on an open and free basis,” Condie explained. “Once we’ve done that, if there’s any land leftover, then we can switch to a first-come, first-served basis. That land has been taken up, so the area we’re opening up had not yet been made available to the public.”
He added that interested developers can submit RFCPs for a single or multiple parcels at the airport. Applications must also show an immediate need and use and not be designed to sit on undeveloped land.
“If they want two or three parcels, whether they’re adjoining or separate, that would be up to them what to propose,” Condie said.
Approval of the RFCPs was unanimous, 3-0, contingent on a final review by the county attorney’s office.
Federal, state grants to cover most costs of Airport Master Plan
The FAA has reviewed and accepted the new Rifle Garfield County Airport master plan scope of work, the consultant’s fee estimate, and an independent fee estimate, and has provided grant opportunities to cover the costs.
The FAA has offered a grant for more than $590,000 of the $656,493 overall cost, and a state grant would cover another $32,777. This leaves the county’s expense for the process at $32,867, which had been budgeted for. The federal grant comes with a requirement that the airport commit to 20 years of compliance with grant assurances, and the state grant with 10 years of the same.
Brooke Barber, airport planner with Armstrong Consultants, told the board that the window for accepting the FAA grant is at the end of this month.
“We’re trying to make that August 30 deadline so that we don’t miss this opportunity,” she said. “Acceptance of that grant is the last step before we do a formal project kickoff.”
The board approved the grant offers unanimously, 3-0.
Airport business plan taking flight
Garfield County’s airport business plan, which guides its airport master plan, is being evaluated by Armstrong Consultants and is slated to cost $128,680. The business plan outlines goals, objectives, and actions plans for day-to-day operations at the airport.
“The airport business plan is what gives the commissioners and elected officials a 30,000-foot-view of what direction they want the airport to go in, and the airport master plan is the nuts and bolts of how to get there,” Condie explained.
He added that rather than piecemealing out each section in the business plan, the airport is having Armstrong review all aspects, including the airport’s security plan, development guide, rules and regulations, and more, saving time in the process.
“We were individually looking at minimum standards, which took a long time to do,” Condie said. “We added them all to our scope of work for our consultant … We’re requesting to double the scope of work and we feel it would be best to get these all done with the same consultant.”
The county had budgeted $60,000 for the business plan, and the additional cost is being covered by a fund transfer from the airport’s existing capital budget.
The revised business plan was approved by the board unanimously, 3-0.