Sonora, CA — By a 5-0 vote this morning the Board of Superviors agreed to accept an FAA grant that will drastically upgrade Columbia Airport.
Airport Director Jim Thomas stated that the FAA had offered Columbia a grant totaling $111,240 as part of the agency´s Airport Improvement Program. Columbia will then apply for a 2.5 percent matching grant from Caltrans which means the County will only have to spend $1,800. Thomas added that the County has already spent in excess of $5,000 for repairs to the Automated Weather Operating System (A.W.O.S.).
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Thomas added that the new system will allow landings and takeoffs during inclement weather. Currently whenever A.W.O.S. is non-operational Air Med is grounded. In addition the new AWOS will allow pilots to go on-line to check on Columbia Airport weather conditions.
Written by Bill Johnson
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 1:37 pm