Redmond Airport plans new snow-removal building

The Redmond Airport plans to build a new, much larger operations building to house its snow removal equipment, at a cost of $12.2 million, replacing one built 18 years ago.

City councilors will be asked Tuesday night to approve submitting a $4 million grant request to the Federal Aviation Administration that would fund nearly one-third of the cost, with the rest to come from recent bond proceeds, according to Airport Director Zachary Bass.

Only part of the project is eligible for FAA Airport Improvement Project funds due to the agency’s ” funding requirements and priorities, ” Bass said.

The 45,000-square-foot facility would replace a 7,000-square-foot building built in 2001.

” The steady and substantial growth of the airport over the last 18 years has exceeded the capacity of the current building to serve the airport’s needs, ” Bass wrote, adding that ” the facility is not large enough to store the heavy-duty vehicles used to keep the airfield safe and operational. ”

If all goes as planned, project design and bidding are scheduled to be complete by July, with construction expected to wrap up by December 2020.