A construction bid has officially been awarded for building a new Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at the Navasota Airport.
Interim director of utilities, and head of the Airport Advisory Board Jennifer Reyna, says they decided to go with Pappas Technologies for the installation, totaling out to around $124,000. She says this will finally put Navasota on the map for pilots.
“Current pilots have to call Brenham, where the nearest weather station is to receive this vital information,” said Reyna. “However, the weather in Navasota is different than the weather in Brenham.”
Councilman Bernie Gessner asked about the importance of AWOS, as some planes, due to insurance, are not allowed to use airports that do not have the system.
Local pilot Micahel Dearing responded to Gessner’s question.
“For charter operators, they have to be based at an airport that has weather reporting, that is correct. Charter operators can fly to airports that do not have weather reporting, like Navasota, but they do not have the same level of comfort,” said Dearing. “On a rainy day like today, an operator would not come here, they would choose not to. But, if we had the weather station, they probably would choose to come here. So, it does provide that comfort factor.”
Reyna said that, in addition to the base system, they added on a lightning strike detector, and an improved wind gauge.
Council approved awarding the contract bid to Pappas Technologies Inc. The system should take about one year to install.
