11/4/07 - The FAA has agreed to print the proper name of "Trinity Lake" on the Klamath Falls sectional chart beginning with the next edition due out in April.
Trinity Center Airport secured for public safety --
As a first step towards addressing FAA
security and safety concerns at our airport,
barricades and No Trespassing signs have been set
up around the airport and walkways.
The FAA has been asking for fencing around all Trinity County airports for years and finally made their request mandatory.
There has been a lot of community concern about the fences at all the county airports. At our NTL Trinity Center Airport, the FAA is concerned about safety for people on the ground and in flight. The risk comes from deer on the runway as well as pedestrians and vehicles on the active runway and surface areas.
The FAA is mostly concerned with unauthorized people on the taxiway and runway, in addition to bikes, cars, skateboards, and ATVs on the taxiway and runway. The FAA has received many complaints from pilots and the local community over the years about unauthorized activity on the airport.
An aircraft has hit a deer at Trinity Center, and there have been many, many witnessed close calls. To meet FAA standards for a deer fence, the airport must be entirely enclosed by at least an 8-foot fence that deer cannot jump over or climb through.
Furthermore, County, State and FAA personnel, not to mention many locals, have witnessed pedestrians and vehicles on the runway. Incidents have included airplane go-arounds to avoid pedestrians as well as departing aircraft waiting for pedestrians to clear the runway. Even a pedestrian walking a baby carriage on the runway with aircraft in the area has been observed.
The FAA presumes that any fence 4 feet or higher will discourage pedestrians and vehicles from strolling onto active airport surface areas. However, when combined with the deer requirement, the FAA requires an 8-foot fence at Trinity Center.
Note that if the FAA requirements are not met, then the FAA will cease funding projects at the airport(s). In this case, it is likely that the airport(s) will have to close since the county and taxpayers in our community cannot fund the operation of the airport. Note that the recent slurry seal at Trinity County Airport cost well over $100,000, mostly funded by the FAA. The FAA has already suspended funding at Trinity Center due to the fence issue.
Access to airport property is limited to:
- Persons and vehicles in the process of deplaning and enplaning
an aircraft
- Accessing a personal hangar
- Access by permission of the Airport Manager
- Persons performing duties related to the airport
The barricades are a precursor to the fence that will
be placed on the airport property line. The county is working with the community, the property owners and the VFD to minimize the impact on the community.
It is indeed unfortunate that, people can no longer walk on the taxiway or
any other part of the airport for non-aviation purposes. To address this
loss of walking area and lake vista, the North Trinity
Lake Trail Committee is being formed to establish a walking trail along the outside perimeter
of the airport fence.
