April 05--The Aberdeen Regional Airport will have backup de-icing equipment beginning next week.
The failure of a de-icing truck caused interruptions in Delta Airlines flight service in early February.
When conditions dictate it, ice must be removed from the commercial planes. Delta flights coming in from Minneapolis were canceled due to overnight conditions that might have caused icing over of the planes while there was no de-icing equipment available.
"We were upset about having to interrupt service for that long," said Steve Kaiser, Aberdeen Airport Board member.
Not all flights were grounded during the days there wasn't a functional deicing truck in Aberdeen.
The equipment being brought to Aberdeen isn't another deicing truck, but a tower de-icer. The tower de-icer will do the job when the truck is unavailable for some reason, but would take a bit longer.
When the de-icing truck owned by Delta Global Services malfunctioned in February, it took a few days for it to be replaced with one brought from Omaha, Neb.
A letter was sent to the Delta Airlines subsidiary following the incident.
"It's a major addition for Delta to put that equipment here," Kaiser said. "That's really nice."
The tower de-icer will be coming from the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, Ill.
Another change is coming for the airport. All airport staffers will undergo weather observation training in July. Once they complete the training course and pass an examination, the employees will become certified weather observers.
That will eliminate the need for a person who is contracted to do the observations.
The Watertown Regional Airport has its entire staff trained, said Aberdeen Regional Airport manager Mike Wilson. Some at the Pierre Regional Airport are as well, he said.
Work will begin on the wetland removal and storm water improvement project. A route for the water has not been determined yet.
"The general consensus is to try to get the water to the James River somehow," Wilson said.
Landowners who might be affected by the plans seemed willing to the idea during recent discussions, he said.
The board accepted a recommendation to pay Helms and Associates $35,575.10 for the firm's work.
Quality Services Inc. will be conducting a wetland mitigation archaeological survey at Willow Dam. The city-owned site is where wetlands would be made.
The survey is required to be done to make sure there are no historical artifacts on the site for historic preservation purposes. The survey will cost $12,600.
Sayre Associates, which previously collected data on the wetlands at the airport, will look at the functional capacity of the wetlands. After completing the hydrogeomorphic wetland modeling, it can be determines how many units will need to be mitigated.
That's the most fair way to complete the job, Wilson said.
In other news:
-- Wilson reported the new baggage carousel system is working well. What's left of the terminal remodeling project is work that must be done outside, which will be dependent on weather.
-- The public can comment on a proposal to continue charging $4.50 for each enplaned passenger, which goes to Federal Aviation Administration-approved projects at the airport. Comments can be sent to 123 S. Lincoln St. The period ends April 30.
The next meeting of the Aberdeen Airport Board will be on May 9.
Copyright 2013 - American News, Aberdeen, S.D.
