Everyone agrees Taft Airport needs some serious upgrading.

The lone runway is too short, too steep, too narrow and too thin.

It’s been that way for years and has been the focus of plenty of scrutiny.

Studies were done in 1964 and 1984 and is being looked at again.

Three alternatives emerged:

1. Haul in 650,000 cubic yards of dirt to jack up the north end of the runway about 35 feet to make it more level.  Cost: $3.2 million.
2. Realign the runway so it goes in an east-west direction.  Cost: $1 million and change.
3. Build a new runway along the same lines of Alternative No. 1, only further to the north.  Cost: Same as No. 2.

On the surface, Alternative 1 appears to be the least feasible, at least financially.

However, Alternative No. 2 does not take into consideration that 90 acres of additional land would need to be purchased.

And Alternative No. 3 would require an additional 130 acres.

Much of the informal talk at the workshop seemed to focus on a fourth option: build a brand new airport somewhere else.

Taft Mayor Dave Noerr said whichever alternative is chosen, the decision is an important one for Taft.

“The business possibilities we garner from these options is going to be the deciding factor,” he said. “There’s a lot to be said for realignment, but realignment has several obstacles.”

Those have to do with the close proximity of Airport Road, Sandy Creek and how to squeeze a longer, wider runway into available space.

That’s why “a completely different site” needs to be considered, Noerr said.

“We’ve looked at Gardner Field Road, the old Gardner Field (air base) area, some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) property by Henry Road and the old 1-C Camp area south of Midway Road.”

The approximately 30 people who attended the workshop examined the three alternatives detailed on large aerial photographs displayed on easels, debated the merits of each among themselves and asked questions of Kern County Airports Director Jack Gotcher and consultants Steve Wagner and Jim Harris of Coffman Associates.

The workshop was kept informal by design, Gotcher said.

“We’ve done these in several formats,” he said.  “This is one of the most successful though.”

Workshop participants were encouraged to send their thoughts in writing to the consultants.
“We really want them to write it down and send them in,” Gotcher said.  “It’s an opportunity to help Taft plan for the future.”