West Ramp Hangars
The project is behind schedule due to weather and design changes, however it is anticipated that hangars are scheduled to be complete on May 23rd.

Airspace obstruction 
The FAA has raised the approach minimums to runway 16R 15 feet due to obstruction clearance issues. The Airport is working on a project to clear numerous trees around the Airport that are obstruction hazards. The project will hopefully happen this year, as the Airport and the County are liable for ensuring the airspace surrounding the Airport is free of obstructions and other hazards. It is possible for the FAA to eliminate the approaches all together if the problem is not corrected. Most of the trees are alder and will need to be completely removed.

New Taxiway Whiskey
We are still waiting for funds for Taxiway Whiskey. This project will not happen probably not happen until 2004 due to lack of funding. This taxiway was to have been part of the West Ramp Hangars, however due to the cost of the project, the FAA could not fund it in 2003 as originally hoped.

Airfield Lighting Upgrades
The Airport’s lighting project will be going out to bid within the next month. The work should be started in July. The project will replace lights along runways 11-29 and 16L-34R, and taxiway lights along Charlie, Delta and Golf. A new standby generator will replace our thirty-year old generator, and new power regulators will replace all the current regulators in the night lighting vault. Equipment has already been purchased for the project.

New Tower
The Community Council members toured the tower prior to tonight’s meeting. Completion is still on target, scheduled for October 15th of this year.

NFIC
Dave Waggoner reported that the museum is still in the proposal stage. The County has sold bonds for the funding. The PFD Board will possibly provide $3.5 million. The architect has been selected as well as the construction manager. Formal County Council approval for this project is still pending. There is a public hearing on the 14th for an Ordinance approving the business plan. Construction would start next year and be complete in 2005.

USS Abraham Lincoln
Several congressmen and County officials, as well as Alan Mulally, caught helicopters at Paine in the early morning to go out to the Lincoln and ride it in to Port.
The Cascade Warbirds arrived at Paine the night before and flew formation over the ship as it came into Everett.

Commercial Air Service
There are always inquiries about commercial air service. There are many pros and cons to the issue. The Economic Development Council plans to address this issue over the next few months. 

Before we could consider commercial flights, we must first have an airline that wants to come here; Horizon is not interested at this point. They have bought bigger airplanes rather than add new routes to their system, as was originally proposed for Paine Field several years ago. Additionally, we would then need a terminal building as the existing terminal does not have any space to accommodate an airline.

Walla Walla built a new terminal at a cost of ten million dollars; the Airport had to provide five million of that.

The FAA only provides funding for terminals according to the number of passengers. 

The Airport is bound to grant assurances which prohibit us from restricting services to any airline that wants to come.

Bill Dolan chaired a discussion about the Mediated Role agreement for Paine Field.

In the 70s –there was a proposed 3rd runway for the east side of airport. At that time aircraft were very noisy and a lot of opposition developed. So much so that the County Commission drafted a policy for the airport to follow called the Mediated Role.

This policy directed the airport to discourage cargo, military training, large jets, etc and to encourage commuter airlines, general aviation and industrial aviation.  However, the term “commuter” has evolved over the years.

The Trump shuttle, which flew 727’s, could be considered a shuttle, however current definitions deem a “commuter” has having less than 60 seats. Additionally, aircraft today are called regional aircraft rather than commuter.

Our runways are open to any airplane that obeys the rules of the FAA. We can encourage or discourage aircraft, but not prohibit it.

Mukilteo Speedway Widening Project
KLB is doing the construction which is scheduled to be complete by next January. There will be a new entry onto Airport as well as two signal lights accessing the Airport. There will be a south end mutual easement to align traffic from the QFC and the strip mall located next to the Airport.

Big Gulch By-pass
The Airport is working on partnering on a project with the City of Mukilteo and the Olympus Terrace Sewer District to possibly place a storm water bypass pipe down Big Gulch creek. The OTSD currently has a sewer pipe in the gulch, however over the years the earth around the pipe has been eroded, and a good portion of the pipe is now exposed.

This by-pass of the storm water flows will take the peak storm water directly out to the gulch, thereby reducing the erosion that takes place during heavy rain storms. The existing system drops 500 feet in less than a mile, and seriously compromises the sanitary sewer system. We are pursuing an interlocal agreement with the sewer district and the City of Mukilteo.

X band Radar 
The Airport has responded to the EIS of the regional missile defense system. It is of serious concern to us, but we will need more information to understand all the implications.