The letter
• The multi-phase modernization project of Yakima Air Terminal is due to complications with three federal grants that the city has not yet signed
• The Airport Terminal Program Grant worth around 1 million US dollars expires on September 15th, and the lack of the deadline could hire all future improvements
• New federal requirements have caused legal concerns that lawyers in the city can be dissolved before the critical period
Yakima, Washington. – The large modernization project of the Yakima Air Terminal is exposed to a critical financing crisis that could bring almost all improvements to standstill if grants are not solved by September 15th.
The airport is currently contained in phase 1-A of a multi-year modernization project, the updates of the roof, the HLK system of the terminal, the fire suppression system and other lengthy improvements. The terminal has no longer recorded major renovation work for decades.
Airport director Robert Hodgman said, however, that the project has given significant challenges with the financing of the federal scholarship that endanger the entire modernization efforts.
“Unfortunately, the project has stalled a little. The next step is the luggage contract project – and it is the same contractor who deals with the roof and the HLK. We are given a challenge with the grants. At the moment, the city has three grants that we have not yet signed or have accepted them because of the legal concerns. However, our city has led the office in the city.
New federal requirements have caused legal complications that endanger the airport's sources of financing. The Airport Terminal Program Grant of the Federal Aviation Administration worth around 1 million US dollars is the most critical.
“If we do not progress with the luggage application project, the rest of the modernization will be used in danger. There is in particular a scholarship that the Airport Terminal Program Grant is called of the FAA – and it has a very limited window. Next year the last year is the last year for the ATP program last year. And as it usually spends with federal financing, if you no longer spend the money no longer, you will no longer to do more.
The ATP scholarship is the final opportunity for this type of federal financing and makes the deadline particularly important for the future development of the airport on September 15.
Despite the challenges, the modernization project has received strong political support. Hodgman found that the senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, the congress member Dan Newhouse, and several other officials as well as the support of both the FAA district and the regional office in Seattle.
“We received many support letters – from Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, the MEP Newhouse and several. Fortunately, we also had strong support from the FAA, both from the district office and the regional office in Seattle. This support helped us to secure the scholarship, but we have not yet signed it because the legal concerns I mentioned,” he said.
For airport officials, the time is running to solve the legal problems and secure the financing. The grant language expressly requires acceptance by September 15, without extensions.
“The deadline for the signing of the grants is September 15th – it is written directly to the scholarship language. If we do not accept the ATP scholarship until then, the financing will either go to someone else or will be distributed to other airports next year – but not to us,” said Hodgman.
If the financing goes through, the recently completed roof repairs could be the last major improvement in the terminal and the modernization project that airport officials say, effectively ends, which is of essential importance for the better services of the flying public.
Airport officials continue to work with the city lawyers to solve the legal concerns and to comply with the critical period that determine the future of the modernization efforts of the Yakima Air Terminal.
Copyright 2025 by Apple Valley News Now. All rights reserved. This material must not be published, transferred, re -written or redistributed.