PORT TOWNSEND — A fixed-base operation with a pilot’s lounge and aircraft maintenance shop could land at Jefferson County International Airport before year’s end.
Port of Port Townsend commissioners on Wednesday gave the 5,000-square-foot project a unanimous thumbs up, and its future owners plan to break ground on the metal building this summer.
First, county permits must be secured and the Port must move several portable hangars on the operation’s site between the future aviation museum and the Wills House.
The site is on the airport’s north side near the Spruce Goose Cafe, popular among Puget Sound-area pilots who routinely fly into the airport for lunch.
During their Wednesday meeting in the Point Hudson Marina Room, the Port commissioners approved a 30-year lease with two 10-year options for 5,000 square feet of land for $200 a month.
The commissioners directed Executive Director Larry Crockett to sign a lease with Port Townsend Aircraft Services LLC, owned by Bartley “BJ” and Jodi Hallinan, who are in the process of moving to the Port Townsend area from Wonder Lakes, Ill., where he ran an aviation maintenance operation.