OROVILLE – Tim Ike, with J-U-B Engineers, gave the Oroville City Council an update on the airport fuel and runway projects at their Aug. 5 meeting.

Tim Ike, with J-U-B Engineers, gave the update on the airport fuel and runway projects at Oroville’s Dorothy Scott International Airport.

“There was an FAA meeting on site this morning and I unfortunately could not attend, but I wanted to come out tonight and give the group an update on where we are. There are two projects going on, both with construction scheduled for the summer of 2026,” said Ike.

Ike said the projects are currently in the design phase and the first project he talked about was adding a Jet A aviation fuel system at Oroville’s airport.

“The FAA has provided a grant for this fuel system under the IIAJ grant program under the Biden Administration for the design effort. The city has a grant for that and will get a grant for the construction,” said Ike.

He said he had been working with Steve Thompson, Oroville Superintendent of Public Works, on the features of the fuel system.

“It will be Jet A with a fuel pump, almost like a gas station for airplanes for Jet A, generally like turbine, turboprop type aircraft. It’s a little bit bigger, but for the most part it will give you some versatility. You have Avgas out there now, so you’ll have both fuels out there once this project is complete,” said Ike.

He said the city should have 50 percent of the design set for review soon and that they were still working through some of the electrical.

“We had our electrical engineer make a visit to the site a couple months back to figure out what electrical needed to be tied in, as well as card reader power, whether that’s through cell or hard-wired in where you have a point-of-sale. We still have a little bit of structural engineering to do with footing design. That will be to install the support tanks,” he said.

Ike said the design will be packaged together to go out to bid in late fall or early winter.

“The grant for construction will be available in December/January. In order to obtain that grant we will need bids in hand. So, we will need the design, give it to the FAA for approval and then go ahead and put the project out to bid,” said Ike.

Ike said the bid should be put together and the tank should be installed by the latter half of the summer.

“To put that tank together takes a while. There are two or three tank manufacturers in the Western United States that would be able to put this project together for you,” said Ike. “That will enable a little more capability for Oroville Airport in terms of aerial firefighting, in terms of helicopters, Lifeflight and those types of uses for the airport. Having on-site fuel will encourage more folks to use the airport or for planes in the United States heading into Canada,” he said.

Councilman Richard Werner asked where Oroville would get the Jet A fuel.

Ike said there were several distributors and Oroville could also split fuel deliveries with Omak to reduce costs to both airports.

Ike said that in 2025 and 2026 the federal grant is for 95 percent of the project’s cost.

“So, it is really a favorable program, although five percent is not nothing. You guys have done a great job in saving and getting your airport funds in order. There’s also a state DOT program that we will be applying for in the spring, both for the fuel system and the runway. So, lots of things are happening, but we are getting there after years. But the timing couldn’t be better, because generally that program is a 90-10 program,” said Ike.

“So we are about a year away?” asked Mayor Ed Naillon.

“Yes, about a year away,” said Ike, who next talked about the second project, the runway.

“The runway reconstruction. This project includes basically a new runway; it is going to be 60 feet wide, the same length, right around that 4,000 feet. It is going to be rotated slightly, but generally in the same location. That project is currently in the design phase, so we’re working with the city again and we’re working with the FAA to make sure we are meeting standards,” said Ike, adding, “The pavement is just worn out, it is an old surface. Just like a roadway, over time the pavement wears out, the same thing with runways.”

He said the design should be finished in the early part of February of 2026 and construction is slated for 2026, with a caveat that FAA grants from the airport improvement programs come from a different pot of money.

“Those grants come out pretty late in the year, so if we receive a grant in July of 2026 for construction we are getting started pretty late in the year to try and get things built, especially in a project of this scale. That late in the summer, it will be a decision point for the city. So, I think right now the plan is to make it over a two-year period. Generally, a project of this scale would take every bit of four months. Do we really want to be paving in October? Generally, the answer is no, but if we got a contractor that has a lot of iron and a workforce, maybe they can get it done quicker. We have a lot to talk about,” Ike said.

“How long do they figure the airport will be closed?” asked Councilman Mike Marthaller.

“That depends. We can pave it and keep it open as long as possible, but that comes with risks and that comes with costs. So, if we build and we keep portions of the airport, we can do that, we can pave it in that way, but it could well increase the costs. If we do the runway all at once it will be closed for two full months,” replied Ike.

Ike said there was some other good that involved a scope of work in the airport project that did an Airport Graphic Information System (GIS).

“The FAA approved to move forward and our reading of the circular is that is required. It is basically an airspace analysis at the airport to make sure there are no obstructions when we finish construction. So, would have taken the findings and put them into the system and do a 3D model of the surrounding terrain, trees any structures, the water towers and make sure that nothing is encroaching on the airspace. Then, a couple of weeks ago, the FAA said we don’t have to do that,” said Ike, adding that this will reduce the overall cost of the design effort.

Ike said they will continue to seek clarification, so if it still needs to be done they will do so.

The Oroville City Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the council chambers at city hall. The next meeting will be Aug. 19.