GUERNSEY – With mixed sentiments whether to invest in upgrading the Guernsey Airport or trading it for other assets, a town meeting was held to discuss the issue.
“We want the town’s input on whether they want the airport brought back to life,” mayor Ed Delgado began the meeting last Tuesday. “No decisions will be made tonight. We want to listen to everybody’s opinion.”
A summary of the state of the airfield and cost of repairs, and the options on the table for the council to consider were discussed.
The council is in agreement, to justify the expense, the airport needs to make enough money to pay for itself and make enough profit to pay off the debt which would be incurred to bring it up to code, plus have the ability to save for future maintenance and repairs.
“We need to weigh this out – what it is going to cost us and what we get out of it. Will we get enough traffic to justify the cost of the taxiway and fuel….it will cost $10,000 a year and every four years we have to put $150,000 into it [to keep it updated], and you can’t justify keeping it open and not repairing it,” councilwoman Penny Wells said.
Mayor Delgado said he wanted to be clear that the discussion was not for the entire airport – only the portion controlled by the town. That includes the JTEC building, hangars, taxiway and surrounding tarmac, and ‘apron’ or paved area leading to the JTEC building and hangars.
Town planner John Burfeind said the state of the pavement would require a complete removal and re-building of the taxiway, tarmac, and apron. Bringing the fuel system to code will cost one-half to one million dollars, repairs to water damage in the J-Tech building are estimated at $16,000 to fix the damage, but the estimate does not include fixing whatever caused the water damage in the first place. There are issues with the hangar doors, which are currently difficult to use since some of the mechanisms have corroded over time. A 2022 estimate for replacement of the hangar doors was $71,830. This is in addition to providing security measures to satisfy the needs of the military side of the airport – including upgraded fencing and access, and a controlled access gate between the civilian access apron and the runway.
When all the figures are added up, all the repairs could cost $2 million or more. An engineer would need to be hired to obtain firm figures for all of it.
Burfeind explained, since the airport belongs to the military and is under the purview of the Department of Defense, federal grants cannot be used for the upgrades. There is a 70/30 cost share grant available from the State of Wyoming that can be used to re-do the paved areas, and a 50/50 cost share grant to upgrade the fuel delivery system.
It was revealed at the meeting, the fuel system at the airport was acceptable according to code when it was installed, but one of the reasons the fuel stopped being offered was because it wasn’t updated to be stored in a double-walled container, in addition, since fuel deteriorates over time and the volume wasn’t being used quick enough, fuel sales were closed down by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We were hopeful but couldn’t make money on the fuel. It sat there, and since fuel [deteriorates] over time and we couldn’t sell it, that’s why the tanks are still half-full,” the mayor said.
Public works supervisor Mike Fronapfel confirmed there is 2,000 gallons of old fuel that didn’t sell that would need to be disposed of as part of any fuel system upgrades.
The discussion

A suggestion was made to see if a third party would be interested in providing fuel from a mobile fuel truck in trade for a portion of the profits. It was confirmed, the cost would be approximately one-third the cost of rebuilding a static fueling station. Jason Miller, Camp Guernsey airfield manager, additionally said he has calls regularly from civilian pilots who would like to fuel up in Guernsey, but the military department does not sell its fuel to civilians.
The taxiway, surrounding tarmac and apron are currently coded red. Pilots can still use it, but at their own risk.
Miller provided some history and experiential information about the Guernsey Airport, having spent 11 years as manager of the airfield. Though Miller emphasized he is not authorized to speak for Camp Guernsey or its leadership and was sharing his personal opinion, he said the Army Corps of Engineers keeps track of the condition of the town’s taxiway, etc. since the land is owned by the military department, and the town is viewed as a tenant with the 99-year lease agreed upon in 1986, of which there is 38 years left.
Miller said the runway hasn’t failed yet, but the strength-bearing capacity isn’t up to what is needed. He added, the typically small planes which have been using the runway weigh 2,000 pounds – less than an automobile – and at this point is okay. He added, the fact there had been some crack sealing at some point in the last few years has helped slow down deterioration, but the current condition of the pavement would not stay stable under heavy aircraft or helicopter use. And eventually, it will break down to the point it cannot be used safely at all.
Wyoming Wing Commander of the Civil Air Patrol, Col. Ken Johnston of Wheatland, is a tenant in the Guernsey Airport hangars, and expressed his sincere desire to keep the airport open and move toward offering fuel services.
“If you get rid of the facility, you will have a lot less ability for this town to grow at all,” he said. “I used to refill regularly here because it was better fuel – it’s a pain to go elsewhere.”
Johnston shared how the airport has made a big difference in the logistic capability for the CAP to introduce local youth to the world of aviation, and he does not look forward to losing the hangar space – which is also hard to find.
Shawna Reichert of Guernsey shared there are shortages of hangars statewide – as former Platte County Chamber of Commerce director, she received many calls inquiring into hangar space in the county, and believes the town is potentially under-utilizing its asset in regard to hangar space. She also asked the council if they have looked into a third-party investor. “I hate to say it, but I think our little community and county have been found by people with money,” she said.
Johnston also offered a solution to the door hangars, since he has found a source of standalone units with automatic roll-up that could be utilized. Mayor Delgado told him to share the information with the town planner, so he could include it in the information being collected for the airport decision.
In response to a question from Ray Baker of Guernsey, who wanted to know how the airport came to be in such a state of disrepair, Mayor Delgado said the town was given a grant for $1,550,875 by the State of Wyoming in 1986 – at the beginning of a 99-year lease from Camp Guernsey to use the portion of the airport the town’s buildings are on. The money was used to put in the runways, taxiway, apron, etc. and the town was supposed to inspect and supervise the facility in exchange for providing access to the military at Camp Guernsey and provide mutual aid when necessary.
At one point, Delgado continued, there was an individual employed several years ago by the town to maintain the buildings (not the paved surfaces or fuel) who did not do the necessary upkeep or give any reports on the matter. Additionally, there wasn’t any follow-up to make sure the maintenance was being done. “We relied on him to keep things up. When we found out he wasn’t, we couldn’t get anyone in here to work on it. It was miscommunication, and people not informing us about it – that was 15 years ago.”
Now, the airport will require millions of dollars to make it useable again, which the mayor said he isn’t sure the town has funds to accomplish the task.
“We are still in debt from the landfill (a remediation project completed last year in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Quality), and we’ve already committed $300,000 for Business Ready Community grant for upgrading the senior center and library,” Delgado pointed out. “The town has more debt than it can handle.”
He concluded, he doesn’t want to put another burden on the town’s finances.
Town clerk Hillary Dawson and planner Burfeind said nothing will be a quick fix. If the council determines it will pursue fixing the issues with the airport utilizing the cost-share grants, the town would have to prove to the state it had the funds available and hire an engineer – once that is accomplished, there is a two-year waiting before repairs could be started.
“It’s where we’re at. We put money into the streets and infrastructure used by the whole town, or into the airport that benefits only a few people,” Mayor Delgado said.
Councilman Joe Michaels pointed out the county commissioners “have said it would be nice to have a place to fuel planes in Platte County.” Michaels then added another suggestion to help pay for repairs: if the town formed a 501C3 to welcome donations in exchange for something like having their name on the side of the airport building.
“The airport is an asset. I realize we don’t need to go broke to do it, and we need revenue around $250,000 or more that we need to fund – so from my foxhole, we need to find resources,” he said.
“One way or the other, if we make it work with an operator, I’m okay with that – I don’t see how we can do it on our own,” Wells said.
Other options
The town also has other options it can consider. In lieu of upgrading the airport, the town has an offer on the table from Camp Guernsey, which is owned and operated by the Wyoming Military Department, to trade the infrastructure put in place by the town for 141 acres of land north of the recently remediated landfill. The valuation of the town’s JTech building had a 2022 appraised value of $370,000 to $395,000 which included an estimated repair cost of up to $10,000, and current estimates of repairs have doubled. The FBO Office is valued at $29,520; FBO Hanger/Work area is $132,000; and T Hangars at $71,830.
The value of the proposed traded acreage is comparable in value, with a 2022 estimate of $352,500.
Another option, Mayor Delgado stated, is to keep the airport lease and purchase outright the 21 acres made available by Camp Guernsey adjacent to the old landfill, valued at $52,500, or $2,500 per acre.
Mayor Delgado concluded the meeting, stating, after more information has been gathered, the town will host another workshop before they make a decision on the airport.