The Ely Times
White Pine County’s Yelland Airport was the recipient of a recent award given by Western-Pacific Region. The AWP area includes Hawaii, California, Arizona and Nevada.
Nevada State Aviation Manager Kurt Haukohl said he believes this is the first time Nevada has ever received this award.
Haukohl explained that Ely Yelland Airport was one of the first applicants to the Trump Administrations supplemental grant. In addition, they were the first to complete a project with the grand funding.
It was reported to The Ely TImes that the award typically goes to a island in Hawaii, or an area that was affected by a natural disaster, such as a typhoon.
The runaway has been completely rebuilt and the airport has taken a 100 percent turn around from four years ago. The airport was in severe condition four years ago. Airport manager Lance Gale coordinated with several companies and agencies to get the airport where it is today.
Gale said, “This award encompasses, all of Nevada, Arizona, California, Pacific Islands, the entire Western Region, which consists of 500 airports.”
He added, “You go out and look at the airport, it is amazing, back in compliance, where we can now get air service back into the area. Everything is back in future development and economic development at the airport. Our commissioners saw the possibilities. They were able to fund our portion of the grant, the FAA grant made an amazing match, but still as a county, we moved forward.”
Steve Stork, the former White Pine County Commissioner who passed away in April, was a big part of the project as well, ensuring funding was available for airport capital improvement projects, Gale noted.
Haukohl said, “ The State of Nevada is very proud to receive the award, and in particularly Ely because the airport was a complete turnaround.”
Chairman of the White Pine County Commission Richard Howe said, “On behalf of White Pine we are very grateful for the upgrades, making Yelland airport, one of the newest airports in the United States.”
Leave a Reply