REDMOND – Work on an expanded parking lot begins Monday at the Redmond Airport even as future monies from the federal government are less sure after a devastating hurricane season.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita leveled some airports in the Gulf region, prompting the federal government to allocate emergency funds to rebuild them, said Carrie Novick, airport manager.

”It’s truly amazing,” she said. ”Lake Front (an airport in New Orleans) was totally destroyed.”

Much of the money needed to rebuild those airports won’t come from the same pools that supply grants to the Redmond Airport, but Novick said the hurricanes could potentially siphon off some cash the airport might have been earmarked to receive.

In an effort to help those airports rebuild, Novick told the airport commission on Wednesday night that portable air-ground radios and other items were sent to the region.

The parking lot project will not be affected by any changes in funding the hurricanes might have caused, as funds have been budgeted to complete it for some time, she said.

The new lot will add 550 spaces to the already 570 spaces, and will include short- and long-term parking. The project is scheduled to be completed in about a year, but a mild or harsh winter could speed or slow the process, Novick told the commission.

”We really have no way of knowing exactly when it will be completed,” she said.

Enough spots will remain open to accommodate Thanksgiving and Christmas travelers, though, she said.

Once completed, new technology will allow people to swipe a credit card when they enter the lots instead of receiving a paper ticket. When they leave, passengers can swipe the same credit card and be automatically charged for the time they used the lot, Novick said.

Traditional booths will also be available, she added.

The project is expected to cost about $5 million, but Novick said she would not be surprised if the total was more in the end.

Increased parking fees will cover a portion of the project costs, although Novick was unsure what the increases would be.

”Those are up to the city council,” she said.

A major topic of Wednesday’s commission meeting was whether plans for expansion of the airport terminal would be enough to meet the expected growth in the number of travelers using the building.

The number of passengers boarding planes at the Redmond Airport last month was up 22.86 percent over last September, according to statistics released at the meeting.

”I see substantial growth for a long time,” said Mike Newell, a commission member.

Novick told the commission that she estimates about a 10 percent growth rate over the next few years, depending on the number of additional flights added by airlines.

A proposed floor plan for the expanded terminal will likely need to be modified to increase the size of bathrooms and a new departure area, she said.

”I’m very concerned about it being too small,” she said.”We need to leave room for the future – we have to look in that direction.”