Only two airports in the world have any type of guidelines for signs on airport hangars. This was the finding Nick King, manager of the Warsaw Municipal Airport, reported at the June meeting the evening of Tuesday, June 9, of the Warsaw Board of Aviation Commissioners. Those airports are LAX and Archerfield in England.

For the past several months the commission has been seeking to develop guidelines for placement of signs on hangars, to provide uniformity and eliminate coming to the board each time there is a request. However, King found “every airport in the state. No one has guidelines.” Their guidelines are basically a written consent from the hangar owner submitted to the governing board. That board then decides if it is appropriate.”It’s their own taste,” King said.

After discussion and suggestions it was agreed there would be guidelines included in the airport rules and regulations on suggested minimum and maximum sizes reflective of the overall size of the sign. King stating LAX has a guideline based on the hangar’s height. For every 11 feet in height, a 1-foot tall sign is allowed with the width being 8 feet, not to exceed one-third of the building. The local board opted to go with the total area of the sign instead of dimensions.

With that approval the board did receive a letter from Brent Wildman stating his approval for the Warsaw flying club to install a sign no larger than 40 square-feet. The club wishes to put a sign on the north , west and south sides of the building. Their original request was for a 10-foot by 8-foot sign or 80 square-feet.

During the engineers report some discussion was regarding the 82 acres recently purchased. Ken Ross, engineer, stated the FAA has now indicated while all 82 acres was eligible for the grant, they indicated a desire the commission sell off the excess 11 acres that fall outside of the airspace protection needs. The proceeds from the sale can be used to fund other eligible airport improvement projects.

Board members agreed to keep the project in the grant application and dispose of the property. King already has one potential buyer for the land.

Other matters included:

• Approved the partial pay request for the guidance sign installation project to Michiana Contracting and NGC Corp., for a total of $64,205.77. A final walk through of the project is planned for the end of June, first of July. A final change order will be submitted at that time along with final invoices for work completed.
• Announced there was nothing new to report on the power line relocation as a draft of the environmental assessment is being reviewed by the FAA environmental specialist.
• Approved the purchase of blinds for all windows at the terminal from Huntington House Blinds, North Webster, at a cost of $4,650.
• Gave approval for all transient pilots stopping by Warsaw to refuel en route to the annual Oshkosh Fly-In in July receive the base price. King stated this will attract more planes at the airport.
• Brief explanation and discussion regarding fiber optic Internet service at the airport. More details will be provided in July. There is a potential savings of more than $360 a month after five years.

The next meeting of the commission will be at 5:15 p.m. July 14. Details of the August Air Show are expected at that time.