The non-pilot owners of a remote but locally important private airport in northern California have launched a national fundraising campaign to raise the $60,000 needed to keep it open. Ocean Ridge Airport has been in the Bower family for more than 30 years and they've always patched the holes and painted the markings themselves to facilitate the slow but steady stream of sometimes-essential traffic to the isolated area of Mendocino County. But according to the patient but nevertheless accountable state inspectors who've been watching the single runway's decline over the years, the homemade repairs and non-standard markings are no longer good enough. "We had an inspection by CalTrans (California's government transportation authority) and they inspected the runway surface and they determined that is it unsafe" because of alligatoring and loose chunks of asphalt, spokeswoman Julie Bower said in a podcast interview. The $60,000 will pay for an asphalt slurry mix and the Bower family is hoping the pilot community, both local and national, and local businesses will contribute to the cause. No members of the family are pilots or own aircraft.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/non-pilots-campaign-to-save-airport