Harrison Area Pilots Association - Fly Harrison

Clare County Cleaver 

by Dianne Alward-Biery

Cleaver Senior Staff Writer

HARRISON – The November meeting of the Clare County Airport Committee was rather brief and to the point, beginning with approval of the day’s agenda and followed by Gale Bensinger’s Airport Manager’s Report. He noted that equipment had been changed over for winter with the snowblower mounted and ready to go. He said there had been a small hydraulic fluid leak in one line which was being checked out, adding it was possibly just something that needed tightening in an area he could not get at. Major concern was raised over water leakage along the roofline over the west-facing main hangar/main doors which was allowing water to come into the site.

Airport Committee Chair Gabe Ambrozaitis advised Bensinger to contact the county administrator for a recommendation of who to contact. Bensinger also reported the tetrahedron was still working/spinning freely.

As had been promised, the Old Business items have remained on the agenda, and will continue there until they have been addressed. Those include: 1) Turf Runway 9/27: leveling, fertilizing and seeding which, as per previous discussion, have been rescheduled for August 2025; and 2) Airport lighting: runway and taxiway lighting layout plan with an updated bid from J. Ranck. Ambrozaitis said he did have some updated bids, and was seeking additional information as to how much less the cost would be if airport personnel removed the old lights themselves, as well as restoration of the grounds after the fact.

Comparing the J. Ranck bid received by the previous airport manager three years ago with the updated bid, Ambrozaitis said it has gone up significantly, which would require a more ala carte approach.

“So, we’re going to pay more and we’re going to get less,” he said. “That’s the unfortunate part about it, and that’s why we’re going to do the ala carte – to see how much we can do and how much we actually have to spend money.”

One Old Business item that was taken care of at the November meeting was approval of the 2025 Airport Committee meeting schedule. Meetings will continue to be held at 4 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, with three exceptions due to holidays: May 20, Nov. 18, and Dec. 16, which fall on the third Tuesday.

At that point, the previous month’s meeting minutes were approved.

The first item under New Business was MDOT-FY25 funding, call for projects for the state and local airport program. Ambrozaitis said he had been working with the county administrator to create a grant application. He noted the four basic areas of focus for the $4 million one-time general fund appropriation aimed at helping to address unfunded airport maintenance, capital development, revenue generating and equipment needs at general aviation airports. Allocated in those four areas, respectively, are: $750,000; $1.25 million; $1 million; and $1 million.

“So, we’re going to go ahead and submit an application for capital development for the deficiency of our non-standard lighting,’ he said. “We’re in the process of working on that right now.”

Ambrozaitis said that along with the information provided by MDOT Department of Aeronautics regarding the call for projects, was an email that reminded that crack sealing and paint marking was still available under the “Maintenance” category – and that this year’s contractor had agreed to maintain the same prices for next year’s program.

Ambrozaitis then queried whether that should be applied for. Bensinger noted that this year’s crew did a very good job, but that he has seen areas where there are still cracks in the ground which will be opened up by winter weather.

“It’s not a lot,” he said. “But it’s to take care of what we’ve got.”

Bensinger said this year’s MDOT crack sealing focused largely on the centerline longitudinal cracks, but some of the crosswise cracks have settled down some. Ambrozaitis summarized by saying it would take some coordination so that if any of the new crack sealing obliterates some of the new paint marking, that marking could be redone.

Discussion of fundraising opportunities focused on two specific fly-in plans. Tentatively set were a Spring Fly-in/Dawn Patrol from 8-11 a.m. May 17 (the week before Memorial Day); and a Fall Fly-in/Dawn Patrol from 8-11 a.m. Oct. 4. The stated intention was for food/refreshments to be provided by Jackie’s Airport Restaurant. The Spring Fly-in would serve as an open house and an opportunity to showcase airport improvements to the community as well as pilots. The Fall Fly-in would be seen as an opportunity to take advantage of color tour time. With only four meetings in 2025 before the proposed Spring Fly-in, it was decided that fly-in planning will begin immediately after the Jan. 28 meeting.

Public Comment saw mention once again of the lack of pilots documenting their use of the airport by signing in at the restaurant, and it was suggested the sign-in book be moved out into the restaurant’s entryway accompanied by a large sign to make it more obvious to pilots.

It was noted that one pilot who had neglected to sign-in had been asked about the runway, and had reported that it was “beautiful” but that the taxiway was “a little rough.” That led into a recap of the prioritization of the projects, with the lighting next as most important, and the taxiway in the future.

“Our job is to stay focused on the next step, which is the lighting,” Ambrozaitis said. “And everybody being prepared to help with that project, because it’s going to be labor-intensive to get all the old lights out, mark the new stuff out with J. Ranck – to do everything we can to keep our costs down. I think we’ll learn quite a bit with all the standard FAA-compliant lighting in, and we’ll be better off for it.”

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