The Crookston Airport Commission met on Tuesday morning at City Hall and members of the commission expressed interest in exploring how the Crookston Municipal Airport could get in ahead of the curve for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones.
Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said he recently took the tour designed for potential students in the University of North Dakota Aviation program during which he learned a little more about drones, including that there are only about 20 spots in the UAS graduate program at UND because of the nature of the work the program does with the government. The commission wants to continue to look into how UAS and current aviation at the airport can coexist said Parnow. “The whole idea is to figure out a way where drones and current aviation can fit together,” said Parnow. “And is there an opportunity for our airport to be able to provide facilities? Say a company comes in and wants to do some research or testing, implementation of new technology can Crookston be involved with that.”
New commission member Andy Gjerswold said the public technology for drones hasn’t reached the point where it could replace current spraying operations but that the technology is getting there. As a pilot, he said he would be concerned about safety with drones and planes in the same area and that he wouldn’t look forward to flying around drones. Parnow said that while safety is the ultimate concern he believes as time goes on both manned and unmanned aircraft could operate together. “Obviously there is the concern with general aviation about safety, which is the ultimate concern,” said Parnow. “But I think as time goes on those two entities can live together. We’d have a lot to offer if we can take advantage of that with our airport here in Crookston.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed the City of Crookston last year that the airport’s master plan was expiring and they would need to complete a new masterplan. Two firms have submitted proposals to work with the city on the masterplan and will make presentations to the commission on Thursday, April 18 said City of Crookston Finance Director Angel Weasner. “We have requested that both firms that sent in proposals do an in-person presentation to the commission,” said Weasner. “That way an adequate selection can be made that works best for our airport.”
The master planning process costs around $350,000 over the course of two years. The FAA requires that all the funds for a project, including master planning, be available before a project begins. “We have to have the entire project [funding] in our account in order for us to move forward with the project,” said Weasner. “We receive federal funding an annual basis. We’ve been using those funds to do our fuel system project and the year before we did the pavement rehabilitation around the hangers. Those have depleted the account, and we need to have all those funds prior to starting this process.”
Crookston receives about $150,000 a year from the FAA for projects, and the fund is currently short about $100,000 for the master plan. The city has a couple of ways to gather the remaining funds, either borrowing from future funding or from other airports explained Weasner. “We are working on it,” said Weasner. “We might borrow from another airport. It is an interesting process because the grant application has to be submitted by July but we usually don’t have final approval until September and October is the start of a new fiscal year for the federal government. Sometimes it’s just a matter of timing.”
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