Palmer airport lighting system may get $3.2 million upgrade

Palmer’s city council approved a request last Tuesday, Feb. 12, to spend $115,000 for engineering and environmental work needed for an upgrade to the Palmer municipal airport lighting system. This is to prepare a grant application to the Federal Aviation Agency for the estimated $3.2 million cost of the system. Palmer will pay 6.5%, or $202,000, as a cost-share of the final project.

Much of the project will involve replacement and repair of underground cable and conduit under the runway that were found to be likely damaged and corroded in a study done by the FAA. The added engineering will bring the project to a 65% design level, at which point bids can be solicited for the work.

Palmer Deputy Mayor Pamela Melin moved to approve the request for funds in Resolution No. 24-010. The council voted unanimously to support the proposal. “This is an important safety issue,” Melin said.

FAA had asked the city a few months ago to replace the type lights used at the airport but that was before the damaged cable and conduit were discovered. “If we don’t so this (repair) we run the risk of not having any lighting,” for night operations, she said.

The lighting and wiring at the Palmer Airport was last replaced in 2006 under a project also funded by the FAA, according to information provided to the council for the meeting. However, parts of the system have been operating on the airport since the 1970s.

“While several individual fixtures have been replaced since 2006 the airfield lighting system dates mostly from that time,” the briefing materials said.

“The lighting system uses a combination of halogen and incandescent light bulbs for runway and taxiway edge marking as well as for navigational aids. Currently, some parts needed for the system are not readily available, such as the incandescent light bulbs. That is why the project to replace the lighting was undertaken last year. However, as a part of that the testing of the cabling powering the airfield lighting indicated that the cabling or conduit it is housed in may be failing, according to the information. Also, the Precision Approach Path Indicator lights and Runway End Indicator Lights are aging and may not be properly functioning, the briefing materials said. The recommendation is to replace the lighting fixtures, cabling, conduit, and regulators on the airfield.

Most lighting fixtures will be updated to LED fixtures, new wiring will be run in new conduit, and regulators will be installed properly sized for the new, and possibly reduced, electrical load.

The cost of the project will total nearly $3.2 million, with the FAA funding over 93% of the project. However, in order for the project to be grant funded by the FAA it will be necessary for the city to spend an amount for a preliminary environmental assessment, additional design work, and the coordination of bidding with a contract award recommendation.