Pearson Field airport received a $580,000 infrastructure investment grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to cover early stage expenses of a multiyear improvement project.
The money will go to the design and planning work for updating of a runway guidance system, airfield guidance signs and taxiway lighting. It will allow the airport to move fuel storage tanks and repave the runway, apron and taxiway. It’ll also cover the costs of removing about 80 cottonwoods on the east end of the airfield.
The trees will be removed in November.
Jan Bader, program and policy development manager for the city of Vancouver, said the grant is the initial funding of a $4.1 million project. Next year, the city expects to receive $1.6 million for the project. The work is expected to be finished before 2022.
Bader said FAA grants will cover 90 percent of the overall project’s costs. The city is responsible for the remaining 10 percent, but she said city staff are pursuing state aviation grants that can cover up to half of the city’s liability.
