Runway Washout Provides Opportunity For Public Funds

Santa Paula Airport is one step closer to obtaining a Federal Aviation Agency grant after the City Council approved the plan at a March meeting.

As a privately owned facility, obtaining public funds is not normally an option. However, after the 2005 flood erosion from the Santa Clara River, the emergency services needed opened the door for a future grant.

In January 2005, rain-swollen waters of the Santa Clara River eroded about 40 feet of shoreline and created a sandbar in the river... which by February redirected the churning waters directly onto the south side of the runway. As Aero-News reported, the runway sustained heavy damage at its east end and remained closed to air traffic for months.

City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz noted that the issue had first be brought to the Council in February when Santa Paula Pilots' Association (SZP Association) representatives said they had been working on the grant proposal, including a source for the 10 percent matching funds that would be required.

"We anticipate being able to work with the airport and the FAA on the grant application," said Bobkiewicz to the Santa Paula Times.

In talking to the City Council, SZP Association President Roina Mason said, "This is a terrific opportunity for us." The appraised value of the property if developed appears to be hovering at the $7 million mark, noted Mason, and SZP is working to meet an October grant expiration date.

"During our major emergency of 2005, we scrambled for funds" to save and then replace the damage done by Santa Clara River flood erosion, said Pat Quinn, also with the SZP Association. While city, county, state and federal officials were a great help in securing funding, "it was made very clear that it was one time and one time only," Quinn added.

If the city acted as the sponsor and lead agency of the grant, it would acquire development rights in "perpetuity," Quinn noted. If the grant application is successful, Quinn said that a "major portion" would be set aside for emergency expenditures only.

"If we do not have this grant the airport would be unprotected," he added.

FMI: www.santapaulaairport.org