Salinas Airport outlines $750,000 security upgrade, phased perimeter fencing and terminal grant pursuit

Airport staff told the commission Jan. 22 that a security-system project inherited by the new administration is expected to cost about $750,000 and is targeted for completion around March. The project will upgrade cameras, keypads and cabling at seven gates, improve license-plate reading, move recordings to one-year cloud storage and provide smartphone/app gate-access while retaining existing clickers and fobs.

"This project that I inherited is gonna be about $750,000 or so," staff said, adding that the system is being designed to integrate with the city's security system and that recordings will be stored in the cloud for up to one year.

Staff also presented a perimeter-fence assessment with phased priorities: phase 1 (green) lists porous, low-height chain-link sections with break-ins that would be upgraded to standard airport chain-link plus three-strand barbed wire to a target height of approximately seven feet; phase 2 would be a higher-grade "premier" fence, and phase 3 covers more remote areas where access is difficult.

Commissioners pressed staff about the meaning of "deterrent skirt limits," emergency door override procedures and how tenants will transition to new access cards. Staff said panic-bar egress hardware remains unchanged, that doors can be locked from the inside, and that staff will provide follow-up details on emergency overrides and tenant communications. Staff said tenants will be notified by email and letter and that existing cards may continue to function during the transition.

Staff also reported submitting a terminal-improvement grant application aimed at ADA upgrades and modernization; the presenter referenced a slide number transcribed as "$10.90 grant" and said award results will be announced in June.