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By BRETT WILKISON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The lengthening of runways at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport has been delayed at least nine months by federal environmental requirements.
The Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (PD FILE, 2011)
The $53.8 million project is the first part of a long-term plan to expand the airport and to offer greater air travel connections.
The immediate plans call for extending the main runway by 885 feet to 6,000 feet and adding 200 feet to the second runway. That work was set to begin this month and wrap up in November next year. The revised timeline now calls for a start date in April and estimated completion by July 2014.
The delay is expected to slow talks with commercial carriers about adding flights at the airport.
Alaska Airlines, now the only airline serving the county, offers five flights a day in and out of the airport. Long term, the expansion would allow up to 21 daily flights.
However, carriers interested in bringing mid-size regional jets to the area, including Delta, US Airways, Frontier and Sky West, are largely holding off on serious discussions until the longer runways are complete, said Jon Stout, airport manager.
“It’s disappointing that in effect we’re losing a year,” said Jonathan Coe, president and chief executive of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce.
The group was one of many in the business community to back the airport expansion as a boon for local industry and selling point for tourism.
In approving the expansion plans in January, county supervisors echoed those points, citing studies that put the value of each additional flight at the airport at $15 million in direct and indirect investment in the local economy.
“The important thing is we get it done, and that’s still happening,” Coe said. “The sooner the better.”
The delay could put in question the extent of federal funding committed to the project, Stout said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is set to pay for about 90 percent of the project, and the county budgeted $26 million in federal money in 2012-2013 for the runway extension.
But with that work now set to begin next year — in a new fiscal calendar for the federal government — the budget for the FAA and its allocation for the project is unknown, Stout said.
“Until they see what appropriations are made (by Congress), they won’t commit,” he said.
County Supervisor Mike McGuire, who represents the airport area, said he was confident the runway funding is secure. The project is a priority for the FAA’s Western region, he said.
“I don’t know of any concern with the funding,” he said.
The additional environmental requirements ordered by federal regulators have helped fuel a more than $10 million cost increase for the runway project since January.
The new requirements include larger habitat offsets for a pair of endangered plant and animal species — Burke’s goldfields, a small wetland flower, and the California tiger salamander. Neither species is known to exist in the 100-acre construction zone, Stout said, but federal regulators have required the county to presume that they do because they are known to exist in the area.
Other federally mandated upgrades around taxiways and the two runways resulted in additional effects on wetlands and more habitat offsets.
Overall, environmental mitigation costs linked to the runway improvements now amount to more than $20 million of the project’s $53.8 million cost.
Design, engineering and construction costs are estimated at just less than $28 million.
The county expects to solicit bids after approval of the environmental study now being prepared for the FAA. A 30-day public comment period on the document is expected to begin in August. Final approval by the federal government could come in September.
The overall expansion plan, pegged in January at $84 million, also would add a passenger terminal, control tower, air cargo facility and other improvements. The timing of those upgrades depends on attracting more airlines to the county-owned airport.
You can reach Staff Writer Brett Wilkison at 521-5295 or brett.wilkison@pressdemocrat.com.
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Good for our economy, more travel options.
Yeah, that’s not on our Agenda.
Dear Fish.
What would YOU do with Syria?
I think it’s Romney who wants to start a war with Iran. Does it really matter if they have a nuke? Just a question of physics, engineering and money.
Pakistan has nukes. Gonna invade them?
Trouble is, the US military has been run into the ground. The troops have been run into the ground, and equipment hasn’t been replaced.
If I wanted to invade this country, I’d do it now.
Maybe we should all learn to speak Spanish?
@Snarky. Correction accepted. I would not doubt Obama starting a war in the next month or so with either Iran or Syria. The media will champion him as the world leader and not to change presidents in war time. The cards are playing out in the news.
RB Fish: I gave you thumbs down because you claimed that there is “no intelligent leadership” at any level of government.
The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of intelligent people in government at every level.
The problem arises, though, as those intelligent people arrogantly, criminally, and egotistically act out their own desires rather than act according to public demands.
President Obama, if he wins re-election, will order more American troops into the middle east (Syria) as if Syria were a problem only for the US. The American public does not support those foreign wars at all. But he does not care. No American President cares.
Governor Jerry Brown just uttered an absolute lie that “California’s credit rating is improving.” Check that statement out against the truth any way you like. He also pretended as if the Park Department had done a positive thing by secretly hoarding $54 million in cash since “the public should be glad that they had not spent it.”
It was recently reported that the state employees in the UC education system had not been contributing to their own retirement program for years. The contributions were only those of public tax money. Now that pension system is requiring a bailout from the public, again.
Locally, the county and the cities grant themselves the luxury of brand new police cars, brand new fire vehicles, brand new park dept vehicles, and they are demanding a brand new court house building. All self serving acts to benefit, not the public, but themselves.
Government is full of highly intelligent people. Mostly self serving. Many dishonest liars.
The government “leadership” you have been looking for is there… but its the self serving type.
WE have absoutely no intelligent leadership in Sonoma, California or the Country. Some environmental nazi says you have assume there are salmander and flowers and the Supervisors are agreeing with them. The BOS should outraged over this. They can not even convince their own left wingers what an embrassment this is to the rest of the world. Pathetic leadership!!!They endorse raises taxes for bloated unfunded pensions, protect illegal immigrants, love to raise taxes and are protecting a useless flower and slamander that doesn’t exist in the 100 acre area.
Don’t forget to vote Democrat and for those who don’t know it starts with a “D”
I wonder if any tiger salamanders live in Rohnert Park behind Walmart?
Oh, wait…that’s a sovereign nation. They’ll probably have salamander boots and belts in the gift shop…
Just gives the politico’s another opportunity to employ more family members and pay them on the taxpayers dime. If any of you don’t believe that this “study” isn’t benefiting the “over-porked” POLITICO’S then I want to sell you naming rights on the new Watmaugh Bridge
This is not a beautiful day in the neighborhood!
Unbelievable, I agree to all comments. How negligent have we become. Is the developer going to tell how much we saved after delaying this project for another 9 months. This is a job killer for many, and the benefits to our local economy.
SFO and Oakland are laughing at us!
Interesting how this is not an issue with SMART Train construction.
Beyond ridiculous.
This type of abuse must stop. Talk to your friends. Get a letter writing campaign going. Let’s try and shine a light on and embarass the beaurocrat who stopped this expansion.
This official abuse is right from Orwell’s “1984″.
Just another example of the power of the almighty salamander! thank you to the Obama administration and the EPA for your help stimulating the economy!
OK, is this Alice in Wonderland ? So the delay is due to concerns about 2 things there that don’t even exist in the area ?
I mean really, how crazy is this ? Wow, just wow.
Hmmm: $53.8 mil total with “. . . more than $20 mil . . .” (~37% of the project cost) for environmental mitigation to provide for species that might not even be present!
Then, consider that $20 mil for mitigation, plus just under $28 mil for design, engineering and construction gives a total of ~$48 mil. However, the total project cost is reported as $53.8 mil. That leaves $5.8 mil unaccounted for.
Does that extra money go into a slush fund similar to the CA Parks Department?
Or is it the costs for all the bureaucrats, mangers and committees involved in the delays?
Is it any wonder that nothing gets done and our government is broke?
How stupid have we become? There are no salamanders or endangered plants on the airport site (according to the article) but the enviormentalists require us to spend $20,000,000.00 to mitigate the site? I’ll bet that money would be better spent on mental health issues!
This is another great example of how the federal government wastes money with its so called environmental regulations.
$10 million cost increase based on a non-proven supposition that a flower and a nonexistance salamander may linger in the grass near the runways.
That is an expensive flower and amphibian that has not been seen, but might be in the area.
All of this is part of the insane regulated bureaucracy that infests Washington and the rest of the nation.
It is also why a $53.4 million dollar project turns quickly into a $150 million dollar project.
The EPA and the like regulatory agencies need to be eliminated or at least cut the funding back by 95% so jobs are created in this country and our economy can get started again.
Oh, hell.
I support this project and the environmental concerns are negligable.
Better runways (not endless runways) bring quieter and more efficient jets and great economic benefits.
Anything we can do to satisfy the NIMBYs and the lovers of the 2-hour commute to OAK and SFO!
Anyone still wonder why job creation in America is grinding to a halt? This article should be exhibit one in any answer. This is a simple and overdue runway extension. Yet, it will now be delayed 9 months.
Why? Environmental mitigation for 2 species not known to inhabit the area, but just in case . . . . Worse, 37% of the project’s total cost will be spent on this mitigation, more than $20 million. Just think what good $20 million might do in Sonoma County spent on something useful.