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13th Legislative District Rep. Tom Dent speaks at the ribbon-cutting event of a new Life Flight helipad at Telford Rest Area Wednesday, July 14.
13th Legislative District Rep. Tom Dent speaks at the ribbon-cutting event of a new Life Flight helipad at Telford Rest Area Wednesday, July 14.
13th Legislative District Rep. Tom Dent speaks at the ribbon-cutting event of a new Life Flight helipad at Telford Rest Area Wednesday, July 14.
TELFORD – Life Flight helicopters who need to land at the Telford Rest Area to transfer or pick up a patient from an ambulance no longer must land in the parking lot and clear visitors out of the way. A new helipad at the rest area that was funded through this year's legislative budget through a special provision was unveiled by the Department of Transportation-Aviation Division, Life Flight, Lincoln County Fire District No. 7 (Creston area) and 13th Legislative District Rep. Tom Dent Wednesday, July 14.
The 30 feet by 30-foot concrete helipad is located west of the bathrooms at the rest area and has a large yellow "H" in its center to signal to helicopters where to land. A concrete strip leads to the parking lot for better access to ambulances.
The helipad was funded using $75,000 of state budget funds. Dent was instrumental in securing the funds during this year's budget, and the 13th District representative got to cut the red ribbon during the ceremony using an oversized pair of scissors. He gave a short speech prior to the unveiling of the helipad.
"I think it's really important and it's money well-spent," Dent said.
Dent first heard the idea for a helipad here in 2018 from Pat Rosman in Creston and wanted to make it a school project, but the state balked on that idea due to unions influencing those decisions. He then spoke to David Ketchum from the San Juan Islands, who designed the helipad free of charge.
Originally, Dent thought the project could be funded with around $30,000 but asked for $51,000 to be safe. As the only professional pilot in the legislature, he had to spend time educating other legislatures on the importance of securing funding for a helipad in the area.
After the funds went elsewhere, Dent worked with Scott Merriman from the Office of Financial Management but realized the project would take more dough than that and asked for the requested $75,000, which was approved in 2020 without needing a capital budget request.
He joked that while pricey, the $75,000 is just a miniscule fraction of the state's transportation and capital budget.
Construction took around 30 days and was completed by mid-June against a June 30 deadline.
After Dent and representatives from WSDOT-Aviation and Life Light spoke, the ribbon was cut amidst the backdrop of a N616 Life Flight helicopter flown in for the festivities.
Drew Lawson is the former managing editor of the Davenport Times and a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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