Paso City Council pushes for more airport staffing and continued spaceport development 

The Paso Robles Airport will receive a boost in its efforts to modernize its airport following the presentation of an updated project plan at the Jan. 16 City Council meeting.

"I hope that we have shown you today how much effort we have put into this plan and why we believe that moving forward is the best course of action," Paso Robles Airport Manager Mark Scandalis said at the meeting. "This plan will also help dictate any growth past the plan we have suggested today."

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• Courtesy Photo By Mark Scandalis
• POWERFUL POTENTIAL Aerospace groups often conduct launch tests of small craft at Paso Robles airport on pavement like where city Mayor John Hamon is standing. The airport could do even more if it gets a spaceport license from the FAA.

The City Council voted unanimously, 5-0, to support the plan, which Scandalis and his team felt could be implemented within the next three years. It includes recommendations for airport staffing, revenue, security, signage, logo development, and a much-needed update to the airport's long-neglected master plan.

However, City Council members expressed concern about the plan's timeline and priorities.

"There's one thing I don't understand: Why can't we do more faster?" Councilmember Steve Gregory said at the meeting. "I don't want to wait for three years when we have a surplus in funding [and] we have a young man here in Mark who wants to take this project on and go for it."

The airport has $180,300 in available funds that could pay for more staff to help Scandalis actualize the plan. Thanks to the city's efforts to modernize the airport and lease it to outside groups—like the British Royal Airforce—the city would also have access to an additional $420,000 in funds as early as 2025.

"I love the plan, but I feel kind of anxious [when] we have all this stuff and this surplus," Gregory said at the meeting. "Mark needs administrative help, and as long as it's managed properly, I think it's important to take that next step and not wait, [especially] when he's getting better and better at his job."

Mayor John Hamon agreed but said that the surplus funds could also go toward something he considered to be just as, if not more, important—continuing to move forward to develop the airport as a spaceport.

The spaceport, which became one of the city's goals for the airport in 2022, is part of Paso's effort to make the city a hub for technological development and aerospace testing.

While he lauded Scandalis' vision and supported the plan, Hamon said he was concerned that the plan focused too much on staffing projections and not enough on developing and updating the airport master plan.

Updating that plan should be the highest priority, Hamon said, as it was critical in moving the airport closer to gaining a spaceport license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"It hasn't been done in almost 20 years, and if we are going to move forward with the spaceport, that is going to continue to be an anchor in our rear," he said. "I think we dropped the ball when we could have had this process going to the FAA a long time ago."

Despite being reassured by Scandalis that the goals in the plan were being implemented concurrently with the spaceport project, Hamon said that the city needed to remain steadfast in its efforts to modernize.

"If we are doing this, we need to do everything we can to stay ahead of the curve and not behind it," he said at the meeting. "Let's not drop the ball and forget things—we have the staff and we cannot wait." Δ