WARREN, Ark. – In a unanimous decision on Monday evening, May 1, 2023, the Warren Aviation Commission voted in favor of recommending renaming the Warren Airport the “John B. Frazer, Jr. Field/Warren Municipal Airport” in honor of former Mayor, local businessman, and pilot John Frazer.
The full Commission, including Chairman Dr. Joe H. Wharton and Commissioners Vernon Colvin II, Rick Stracner, Bryan Martin, and Rob Reep, were present for the meeting on Monday.
The early portion of the meeting involved a call with Alex Smith from McClelland Consulting Engineers, a firm which consults on all airport related projects for the City. Smith gave an update on the continuing ramp apron project. The contractor that has been working on the asphalt repairs at the Airport will have to return Wednesday to redo some work that was not completed to the required specifications. Some areas have been holding water, and asphalt inside multiple hangars will need to be corrected. An area where a fuel spill occurred several months ago needs to be rerolled as well.
After the repairs are complete, the entire area of repaired asphalt will be sealed at no cost to the City. According to Smith, that is a $40,000 savings and will be done at a later date. The ramp will not be required to be closed as the sealing portion of the project will be done in halves.
City Building Official Rob Johnson, who has also been placed in charge of maintenance at the Airport, reported that he will be receiving a radio soon to be able to check the functionality of the runway lights and their mobile operation.
New signage is also in place, stating that the Airport is a restricted area.
Johnson also reported that runway 03 has had some drainage problems. He recommended the City get an engineer to look at the issue. Some discussion was also had regarding a culvert problem under the runway.
The Commission then adopted a manual on the operational rules for agricultural aircraft utilizing the airport. Among the new rules are that only dry fertilizer and seed work will be permitted at the airport, and the operator will give 24 hours’ notice to Building Official Rob Johnson. A total of ten rules were listed on the new regulation form. Operators will also be required to apply for a permit and pay a $1,000 deposit before using the airport for agricultural purposes.
In the final business of the night, the Commission was updated on the status of the removal of a disabled aircraft which crashed several weeks ago. The occupants of the craft are okay. They encountered a problem and crash-landed near the woods after going off the runway. The owner is expected to arrive soon to breakdown the aircraft and remove it from the site.
All action taken by the Commission will now go before the full Warren City Council.