Receive update on the activity of the Yolo County Airport and authorize the Director of General Services or their designee to accept two grant awards from the United States Federal Aviation Administration to receive $170,620 for runway rehabilitation planning and $71,250 for developing a pavement maintenance management system and for the Director of General Services or their designee to take related actions to apply for and receive matching grant funds from the California Department of Transportation ($22,708 general fund impact) (Pistochini) (Est. Staff Presentation: 10 min)

The County owns and operates the Yolo County Airport (airport code KDWA) located off of County Road 95 near County Road 31 between Winters and Davis.  This airport was originally created by the United States Army Air Force during World War II as a training facility.  The County assumed control of the airport when the airport was declared surplus by the federal government shortly after World War II ended.  The airport is a general aviation airport, and consists of one runway that is 6,000 feet long.  The airport is the site of two notable aviation business - Woodland Aviation, an aircraft maintenance service center, and SkyDance Skydiving.  This agenda item will provide County staff the opportunity to present recent activity at the airport to the Board of Supervisors, and to request the Board permission for County staff to sign two grant award agreements from the Federal Aviation Administration.

United States Federal Aviation Administration Grant Awards
The FAA has an annual Airport Improvement Program (AIP) that provides grant funds to public airports to fund projects on the Airport Capital Improvement Plan (ACIP).  The FAA's AIP grants fund 90% to 95% of the proposed cost of the work.  The County's ACIP prioritizes the need to rehabilitate the airport's runway, taxiway, and tie-down pavement areas.  The five-year ACIP was last reviewed by the Board of Supervisors on July 11, 2023.

The airport's sole runway was last rehabilitated many years ago, and the runway's pavement condition index number is 63, or "fair". The runway currently presents low-severity age-related distress such as weathering and cracking. Rehabilitation of the runway is a less intensive approach than runway reconstruction, as rehabilitation performs targeted repairs on problematic pavement areas that present risks to airplanes taking off and landing on the runway.  The design will propose a mix of crack sealing, isolated pavement repair, and potentially a seal coat.  The design of the rehabilitation work is expected to cost approximately $189,578, of which the FAA will provide grant funds for 90% of the cost, or $170,620. 

Additionally, public airports like the Yolo County Airport must periodically renew their Pavement Maintenance Management System (PMMS) to document and study the airport's runway, taxiway, aprons, and tie-down areas and provide recommendations for pavement maintenance and improvements.  The PMMS establishes a set of procedures for collecting, analyzing, maintaining, and reporting pavement data.  All airport pavement will be reviewed and assigned a pavement classification rating by reviewing existing pavement and subsurface soil strength.  The development of the PMMS is expected to cost approximately $75,000, of which the FAA will provide grant funds for 95% of the cost, or $71,250.

If this Board approves accepting these awards, the County will engage its Airport Engineer consultant to finalize the scope of work for Board approval in a future agenda item.   Once design is completed, the County can proceed to apply to next year's AIP grant cycle to fund the runway rehabilitation repair work.

California Department of Transportation Grant Program
The California Department of Transportation provides public airports that participate in the AIP a matching grant of 5% of the federal grant award.  The Caltrans grant application process occurs after the County has accepted the federal grant award.  Staff requests delegated Board authority to apply for and accept the Caltrans grants given that the State will only provide state funds for awarded FAA AIP projects, and the potential smaller amount of the Caltrans award, $8,531 and $3,563 respectively.

County staff reviewed and received feedback from the Aviation Advisory Committee on the development of the ACIP.  The US Federal Aviation Administration regularly discusses airport planning and improvement projects with the County.  The California Department of Transportation's Division of Aeronautics also regularly coordinates with the FAA and the County on airport improvement projects.