Federal grant funding for the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport redevelopment will come into focus early next year, PitCo Manager Jon Peacock told commissioners and Aspen City Council on Monday.
The grant contributions are still unknown because the Airport Layout Plan — the document that depicts existing and future airport facilities — is still under an environmental assessment review with the Federal Aviation Administration. The county feels confident the timeline of the project, including a nine-month runway closure beginning in spring 2027, will take place as planned.
“We can’t say it’s certain at this point in time but this has been a longstanding conversation with the FAA,” Peacock said. “While we can’t say for sure right now because we don’t have the commitment in writing, our initial conversations have been very positive and we feel confident enough to continue presenting this number publicly based on those conversations.”
Passage of a November bond question also will help the county secure grant funding for the project, Commissioner Patti Clapper said.
The ballot question will ask voters to approve a $340 million bond for the $575 million project to reconstruct the aging runway and replace the existing terminal with a decarbonized, sustainable facility.
The question will not introduce any new taxes or use existing tax dollars to repay the debt. Despite having no tax implications — because the airport’s budget is managed as an enterprise fund — the county’s home rule charter requires voter approval to issue debt.
“The passage of this bond question is really going to help us go to Washington and say, not only did our community support this work to be done at the airport, now they’re supporting the opportunity to help fund it,” Clapper said. “So we need to keep our bond amount … low and therefore we really appreciate federal dollars.”
“I think we have a good chance of receiving some level of funding from the feds, we just have to stay on top of it,” she added.
The county feels confident about the proposed timing, but if it shifts due to changes in grants or other outside factors, the county will notify the community.
“If we get an indication that it’s going to change, we will be in front of the community because we know how important that window is for local businesses, and workers and everyone in this community,” Peacock said. “We’re not putting that [timeline] out there lightly but I can’t say we have a commitment yet.”
The county also is gearing up for its airport modernization joint task force kickoff meeting on Sept. 30. Two task forces, for terminal design and airport multimodal connectivity, were formed this summer and their members will oversee implementation of the Common Ground Recommendations developed through the ASE Vision process of 2019-20. The task forces will meet at key design milestones to provide input to the Airport Advisory Board. They are anticipated to meet 12 times between now and next September.
Community open-house meetings will be held as the airport project progresses. Two are scheduled in October: one on Oct. 15 from 5-7 p.m. at the Aspen Fire Station and another on Oct. 30 from 5-7 p.m. at a location to be determined midvalley.
Other community open houses about programming and conceptual design will take place between Dec. 4 and early January. The task forces will meet at the Airport Operations Center on Oct. 28 and Dec. 2 or 3. Community members are invited to sit in on the task force meetings.
