Spokane County Commissioners approve purchase of Felts Field hangars for sheriff’s office

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office hopes to expand its footprint at Felts Field Airport.

Spokane County Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved the $750,000 purchase of a structure containing two hangars at the airport from EDMO Distributors Inc., a Spokane Valley-based supplier of avionics and pilot supplies.

The Sheriff’s Office already uses the structure to house emergency response units and equipment, such as the Air Support Unit and its aircrafts, and the regional bomb squad comprised of deputies and Spokane Police officers. The county was paying $71,000 in rent annually to use the space, with the city of Spokane Valley, which contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services, and the city of Spokane, as a bomb squad partner, contributing to the costs.

At a meeting with county commissioners earlier this week, Undersheriff Mike Kittilstved said the purchase will provide enough space to store the agency’s new helicopter the county plans to buy this year, and will give those specialty units a much-needed permanent home. The property is also large enough to host trainings, he added.

Kittilstved indicated deputies with the agency’s SWAT team will be relocated to the building from their current home on the West Plains. He said that will allow for shorter response times and a cooperative approach to service calls.

“Some of the units have moved more than four times in the last 10 to 15 years,” Kittilstved said. “It’s not easy, necessarily, to find a place to house all those units. Co-locating also lets them work together much better.”

The county will need to lease the land the hangars are on from the Spokane International Airports Board for an annual cost of $20,000, Kittilstved said. With the county commissioners’ approval of the purchase and intent to lease, the lease agreement will come before the airport board for approval.

Commissioner Al French, who serves as vice-chair of the airport board, indicated the board will be supportive of the agreement.

“This proposal has been discussed with the airport committee structure and with the leadership,” French said. “And we are very comfortable moving forward with it.”