Northeastern Nevada airports getting facelifts

Friday, Dec. 26, 1997 | 7:55 a.m.

Jackpot is the latest in a series of northern Nevada communities seeking to upgrade its landing strip.

Jim Kikumoto, director of gaming at Cactus Petes, is urging Elko County commissioners to undertake an economic feasibility study for upgrading the Jackpot airport, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.

The casino and resort recently began flying in gamblers from Idaho on eight-seater King aircraft. Improving the airport would enable Cactus Petes to fly in aircraft carrying more than 30 passengers, he said.

"What we're trying to do is look at possibly seeing if there's some federal money out there for airport improvements for Jackpot. Right now we are limited on the size and capacity of aircraft we can bring in without having airport approach or a weather monitoring person," he said.

While many projects at larger airports are funded 94 percent by the Federal Aviation Administration, some general aviation airport projects require 50 percent funding by the local government. In Jackpot's case, that would amount to about $1 million.

Lander County received a $2.1 million grant from the FAA to rehabilitate 7,300 feet of runway, install precision approach path indicators and helipads. The Battle Mountain airport is used by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as a regional firefighting base.

Eureka's airport still is listed as unattended with no services, according to Booth Bailey, who began work as Eureka County's first fixed-base operator Dec. 1. A pilot who spent the night in Eureka last week due to the weather was relieved to find somebody else at the airport, Bailey said.

The Eureka County Commission received a federal grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for half the cost of an airport improvement project and a downtown revitalization project. The county received an award from the Governor's Conference on Tourism for both projects.

The Crescent Valley Town Board was unable to get FAA funding for improvements to its airport. The FAA said Crescent Valley doesn't have the required minimum of 10 based aircraft, doesn't have a contract with the postal service and is only 30 miles by air from Battle Mountain airport.

Lander County is attempting to obtain title to 2,100 acres at Austin airport from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Local ranchers, however, shot down a proposal by Aviation Technologies Ltd. to locate a military aircraft repair business there.