FORKS — Another hearing in the long saga of the effort to continue to offer summer drag racing at the Forks Municipal Airport is planned tonight.
Aviators and other members of the public with concerns or comments about the potential closure of the airport for West End Thunder drag races during specific weekends will be heard at a public hearing during the Forks City Council’s regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the council conference room at 500 E. Division St.
The hearing is part of the process of asking the Federal Aviation Administration to continue to allow the closure of the airport for non-aviation uses on five weekends a year, said Rod Fleck, city attorney and planner.
The city has to demonstrate that it had “reached out to aviators and other interested parties to know what their issues or concerns are in regard to racing events at the airport,” Fleck said.
It’s part of the newest chapter of the work to get FAA approval for drag racing on an airport runway.
West End Thunder drag races have been drawing thousands of spectators — and their purchases in town — to Forks since 2006, the first season of the races.
The city and the office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Bothell — along with the Port of Port Angeles and the West End Thunder racing club — have worked with the FAA since 2005 to negotiate ways to allow drag racing on airport runways on five summer weekends.
FAA policy prohibits airports with grant obligations to close for non-aviation uses. The city airport has such obligations.
The city of Forks, which owns the airport, and West End Thunder were granted an exception in August 2006 and extensions after that.
In 2010, the FAA denied the city’s request for an extension and was told the 2011 season would be the last.
But that has changed, and now the FAA has said that races at the airport will be permitted this summer if the city files an acceptable application with the federal agency by Feb. 28.
“The FAA has been very responsive to work with,” Fleck said.
The application also could lead to later, longer-term approval of the non-aviation use.
“We are filling out an application to the FAA for a five-year extension for racing,” said Mayor Bryon Monohon.
The application has nine pages of questions dealing with the proposed use’s impact on aeronautical use, liability and risks, security issues, financial benefits to the community and exact descriptions of events at various areas of the airport.
Tonight’s hearing will help the city in filling out the portion devoted to concerns about closing the airport and mitigation of those concerns.
During the races, airport traffic is directed to the Quillayute Airport 10 miles west of Forks.
Objections to using that airport range from its distance from Forks to the condition of the hangar on the property.
“We’re asking the public to express their interests, issues or concerns,” Fleck said, “and asking the council to make a decision about a response to the public’s concerns” such as possible improvements to the Quillayute Airport.
Other options have been considered.
One was to hold the races at the Quillayute Airport, which would need a lot of work to be ready for drag racing.
Another was to close the Forks Municipal Airport to aviation permanently, , and use if for racing, something that could not be done with FAA approval and reimbursement of federal investment in the airport.
Yes another idea was to build a dedicated drag strip elsewhere.
That’s not financially feasible, a 2007 Port of Port Angeles study determined.
The FAA mentioned the latter two choices as options the city could pursue, but city officials opted to go after renewal of FAA approval of the temporary closure of the municipal airport five times a year.
Forks is not the only airport in the nation to ask FAA for the right to temporarily close an airport for uses other than aviation, Fleck said.
That’s why the FAA developed the new application that the city is now putting together.
“Other airports had dealt with this, so the FAA was looking at a consistent process for dealing with requests for temporary airport closures for non-aviation events,” Fleck said.
Said the FAA: ‘We are able to offer this process to you as a beta test of the tool.”
Fleck clarified that.
“We are the first ones to try this in this region,” he said.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.