Responding to the loss of power at the airport during the windstorm which tore through the community on Nov. 30, the borough assembly has voted to spend $80,000 in federal funds to install a backup generator for the airport runway lighting.
At its Tuesday meeting, assembly members approved using money from a CARES Act grant fund for the generator purchase and installation.
The capital facilities department will order the generator this week, and expects delivery in four to five months. The generator would solely be for the runway lighting, said Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad. Alaska Airlines has backup generator power for the airport terminal itself.
Last year, the assembly approved a sole-source purchase from Juneau-based NC Machinery (NC Power Systems) for a trailer-mounted generator to provide emergency electrical power for the airport runway lights. The engineering design was completed but the borough never ordered the generator and installation.
The agenda statement submitted to the assembly by Al-Haddad said additional project costs — beyond the actual generator unit — would include engineering assistance to provide design for the switch gear necessary for when the backup unit kicks in, and connections and installation by an electrician.
Electrical design work can occur before the generator gets to town, Al-Haddad said, so that everything is ready for the equipment to fit into place. The capital facilities department will put out requests for proposals for the electrical work.
When the runway lights go out, aircraft cannot land between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. That’s a problem, in case of medical evacuation and “overall community resiliency,” according to the resolution approved by the assembly in a unanimous vote Monday evening.
The deadline is Dec. 31 for the municipality to spend CARES Act funds, which were granted by Congress in 2020.
“During the emergency, we realized we didn’t have a backup at the airport,” interim Borough Manager Jeff Good said. “This will pretty much clean out the rest of the CARES Act account.”
Finance Director Mason Villarma explained, “We did a high-level review of what can be in the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) bucket, and the CARES bucket.” There was just enough loosened up for the generator by moving money around, he said.
”I do think the state should be helping us,” Good said. “By making it portable, I would like to have them help us, and then we can take this generator elsewhere.”
“Why we have to spend our own money on a generator beats me,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said. “The state needs to pony up.”
Regardless of the lack of state assistance with the purchase, “I like the idea of this being on a trailer,” the mayor said.
Good said the borough has a need for generators. “We’re at least four shy for the pump stations.“
Al-Haddad said she jumped on this project the day after the windstorm. “This money has to be spent within two weeks. What I have scheduled in the $80,000 is the cost of the generator, the cost of the construction; there is electrical connectivity work that needs to be provided too. It’s very likely we won’t be able to get that electrical work done in two weeks. If we can’t, we will forgo that piece.”
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