Oakley council approves FY2027 airport improvement plan, authorizes bidding for fuel-tank replacement

The Oakley City Council voted Jan. 20 to adopt the airport improvement program for fiscal year 2027 as presented by Darren Newfield of EBH/BBH Engineering, prioritizing a full replacement of the airfield lighting system with LED fixtures and related infrastructure upgrades.

Newfield told the council the project package combines FAA entitlement funds (approximately $150,000 per year) with a one-time pot of additional federal funds to produce a program totaling roughly $789,000; the city’s local match (10%) on the combined items was estimated at about $78,000. The airfield-lighting replacement was recommended as the FY2027 number-one project; taxiway reconstruction remains scheduled later in the five-year plan.

Separately, Newfield updated the council on a fuel-storage project: replacing an aged underground AVGAS tank with new above-ground, double-walled (flame-shield) tanks and adding a Jet-A tank. He said the above-ground tanks reduce the need for large secondary-containment dikes and make monitoring easier, but removing the existing buried tank will require a KDHE-certified contractor and on-site soil sampling; if contamination is found, remediation costs are an unknown that would be addressed in procurement.

Councilors asked about which lighting elements would be replaced (runway edge and taxiway lights, light vault/regulator) and the procurement schedule. Newfield estimated delivery of new above-ground tanks at three to four months after award and said the city should expect to advertise for bids and return to council in six to eight weeks to open and consider bids for the tank project.

Council approved the FY2027 five-year projects and recorded consensus to proceed with design and procurement steps for the fuel-tank replacement and runway-lighting work.