Westmoreland County Airport Authority uses grant money for improvement projects

Haley Daugherty | Monday, December 19, 2022 11:30 a.m.

Haley Daugherty | Tribune-Review

Westmoreland Airport Authority dedicated nearly $254,000 toward improvement projects at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport recently finished about $245,000 in projects to rebuild a taxiway, improve hangars and test its emergency firefighting foam.

Officials at the airport in Unity worked with Golden Triangle Construction and McFarland Johnson Construction to reconstruct Taxiway C. The taxiway was curved and was required by the Federal Aviation Administration to be replaced with a straight path for planes to access runways, apron areas, hangars and terminals. The $2.25 million project was funded FAA grants.

The airport was also required to invest in test equipment for its aqueous film-forming foam. The FAA-recommended equipment allows operators to test the flame-fighting foam without discharging it.

“This way, we don’t lose any of the foam while making sure that it’s effective and we’ll still have plenty in case there is an emergency,” said Dwayne Pickels, the airport’s grants director .

The $30,000 test equipment was paid for with a $24,000 grant and $6,800 from the airport’s projects fund.

The airport also plans to strengthen the apron areas of its hangers using a $1.4 million state grant and about $112,000 from the airport’s projects fund.