HSC Airport master plan progresses

T-O Engineers, represented by Dusty Spomer and Jared Wingo, held a public meeting at the County Annex Building on December 7 to give a presentation on the Hot Springs County Airport Master Plan progress. The presentation is the fourth meeting regarding this master plan and they are seeking public comments and feedback on their work. The deadline for the comments is January 6, 2022.

Jared Wingo, the lead planner, started the presentation and gave some background to the project, which started in October 2020, and now they are wrapping it up. At this point in their process, they are in the implementation phase and have a draft of their airport layout plan. Now there is a 30 day public comment period and once that is complete, they will create a package to submit for review to the FAA and WYDOT. Once T-O Engineers receive back from them any comments or their blessings, the engineering firm will return and submit the plan to the Hot Springs County Commissioners.

The plan currently in action is to prepare the county airport for potential future growth and maximize the possibility of state and federal funding. This is done using a forecast component that looks at a historical review of the airport and trends of the state and national levels of aviation activity. Wingo explained in the original master plan they protected themselves for the potential increase of jet aircraft using the airport, which are heavier planes and would require a slightly longer runway. The current runway, however, is up to spec and classified for jet aircraft, but they are looking at the possibility for growth in its use. 

In different phases, one of the updates in changes to planning the airport layout is to expand the apron, how planes would be tied down and also where new hangars are placed. Additionally, they plan on potentially extending the runway by 1,300 feet if larger aircraft start using the airport, and the longer runway would help with insurance justifications. Also in the plan is to add a wind cone and an agricultural spray pad. 

Wingo and Spomer also presented a series of charts highlighting financial data of the different phases and their breakdowns in funding, federal, state or local. Each of the phases is different periods of time and not set time durations. The data are cost estimates as they attempt to forecast prices in the future.

After their presentation, Wingo and Spomer opened the meeting for questions and public comment. Pilot John Newkirk asked, “We’ve heard rumors every once in a while that all of these jets wanted to land at Thermopolis, but they couldn’t for a reason X, Y, or Z. And so they had to divert to Worland or Cody or whatever. Was that something that was true at the beginning of the airport’s operation and then they got some kind of certification post-2015? And now that’s no longer a factor. Or was it just the misnomer that they couldn’t land there?”

Nate Messenger was able to give a reply and said, “The biggest rumor we had going around was with Arnold Schwarzenegger and he was getting his buffalo robe and they wouldn’t land here. And I’m pretty sure it was because of a lack of approach. You got that window where we didn’t have our G.P.S. approaches and if you charter somebody… their insurance requires approaches when you’re carrying a high profile. You don’t want a lawsuit.”

Newkirk also asked about crosswinds and Wingo said, “But the reason why we did not look at a crosswind looking at the previous master plan, looking at the environment for its topography.” Wingo added, “it was just cost-prohibitive. And we just discarded it from the conversation.”

Newkirk and Wingo also discussed the agriculture pad and that subject is considered flexible about its location and when it actually comes time to construct it. 

The master plan can be found online at http://www.to-engineers.com under the Project Portal > Recent Jobs Poster > Hot Springs County Airport Master Plan.