Regional transportation board shows Vale some love
Airport paving project still alive in terms of Connect/Oregon II funding
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:21 AM PDT
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| The windsock at the Vale airport shows the wind movement Tuesday afternoon. The airport is still in the running for funding to pave the runway (at right) through the Connect /Oregon II program. |
ONTARIO - Usually, as the old saying goes, the third time is the charm.
In Vale’s case, though, a second go-around with the Connect/Oregon II program has so far proven to be beneficial as its request to pave the town’s airport runway appears to still be alive in terms of funding possibilities.
The Connect/Oregon I and Connect/Oregon II programs are lottery bond- based agenda’s approved by the Oregon Legislature to spearhead investment in state rail, marine and transit infrastructure.
The Vale venture received a green light for funding from a regional transportation investment board in the latest round of Connect/Oregon II, but Ontario’s airport project — also submitted for funds under the program — was left out in the cold. During Connect/Oregon I, the Ontario airport request for more funds was granted while Vale’s query for funding for its airfield was declined.
Under Connect/Oregon II, each of the five Oregon Department of Transportation regions shares $10 million. That money is divided up among projects on a list fashioned by representatives from the Southeast Area Transportation Commission and Northeast Area Transportation Commission for ODOT’s Region 5.
The two commissions convened last week in La Grande to prioritize projects submitted from the region, then frame a list and submit it to the Oregon Transportation Commission.
It only took five projects to gobble up the $10 million, with each sub-region — the north and south sections of ODOT’s Region 5 — getting one large project and one small project. Also a project from Morrow County was recommended for partial funding. Topping the Region 5 list is an Alicel Intermodal Transportation Project in Union County, with about $2.724 million in state funding requested. Grant County’s request of $4.064 million for an airport terminal building was second, while a request of $360,000 for a rail spur in Baker City was third and Vale Airport’s request for $400,000 for runway paving was fourth. To take up the remaining portion of the $10 million, a multimodal rail for a Morrow County project was moved up to No. 5, in hopes of getting part of the funding.
“There was pretty good discussion,” Sondra Lino, staff person, for the SEACT, said. “There was agreement the Port of Morrow was a pretty important project.”
She noted Vale was moved up because of its lower cost, and it would have a pretty good chance of getting approved.
With the terminal at the John Day Airport would come a firefighter- training area, and she has been told that could mean 25 more jobs for Grant County.
“Mark Webb (Grant County judge and the Southeast Area Commission on Transportation’s representative) did a pretty good job in representing this area,” Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce said. Now the Southeast Area Commission Transportation and Northeast Area Transportation Commission will submit the project list to the Oregon Transportation Commission. From there, the OTC will form a review committee composed of representatives from the State Aviation Board, Freight Advisory Committee, Public Transit Advisory Committee, Rail Advisory Committee, Marine Project and Planning Advisory Committee, the area commissions on transportation and the Portland area committee. Those officials — part of the final review committee — will meet April 29 to prioritize all the projects and create one draft list of projects for the OTC to review at a public hearing later this summer.
