Airport to get new fueling system

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News

March 11, 2015 - 12:00 AM

Allen County commissioners approved expenditure of nearly $94,000 Tuesday morning to install a new fueling system at the county airport. They dipped into airport funds for the project.
The upgrade has been on drawing boards for some time, and is expected to draw more pilots for fuel stops. Lower-priced fuel has been Allen County’s advantage, but an older fueling system has discouraged some.
Mitch Garner, airport director, pointed out with current equipment 28 gallons of jet fuel could be dispensed in a minute. The new system will permit flow of 100 gallons a minute.
Typically, he said, an average fueling involved about 700 gallons, but large aircraft take on as much as 3,000 gallons. To load 3,000 gallons currently takes nearly two hours; at 100 gallons a minute, time will be reduced to 30 minutes.
Bill King, director of Public Works, estimated down time during installation shouldn’t be more than a week.
P.B. Holidale Co., Chanute, will provide mechanical equipment and make modifications to the fueling station, with cost of about $82,500. Hoffmeier Electric, Iola, will do electrical work for $10,860.

IN OTHER NEWS, commissioners:
— Accepted a bid of $2,431 from Bauman’s Carpet and Furniture, Garnett, to install new tile in Iola’s Senior Center. The bid was the lowest of three.
— Learned that through Feb. 28 ambulances answered 366 calls, an average of 6.21 per day. For those calls, patients were billed $267,417.36, of which $75,028.58 has been paid. Write-off for the period totaled $68,711.20.
— Approved use of the bandstand for a Iola High pre-prom dinner on April 18.
— Were told a new bridge over Owl Creek, about two miles west of Humboldt, should be open to traffic in about a month. A plaque identifies it as the Sinclair-Hegwald Bridge, in honor of nearby neighbors.
— Tabled discussion on whether to open the courthouse from 6 p.m. June 5 to 6 a.m. June 6 to permit Relay for Life participants to use restrooms. Commissioners earlier were asked to consider opening the courthouse on Thursday evenings so people attending the Allen County Farmers Market could use restrooms; a decision on that request has yet to be made.
— Were told their annual premium for liability and property insurance provided by EMC through PSI, Iola, would increase about $5,000. The past year’s premium was $132,500. Some tweaking may lower the premium a bit.

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