KIMBALL -- The U.S. Air Force is moving forward with the Sentinel Project in Kimball now that Congress has approved their budget at $106 Billion. 

Late last week, the City of Kimball received a call from the Air Force saying they have contracted the company Tetra Tech to begin the first step in the missile project. 

The contractors have begun conducting surveys of the land throughout Kimball County including line surveys, biological surveys, site surveys and cultural surveys. 

Any federal construction project will conduct these surveys to determine what the working areas look like and what issues they may run into during the project, said Council Member Christy Warner.  

The questions they need to answer about these areas are: Where are the utility lines; what kind of soil is there; are there any contaminants; are they endangering a species of animal; is there potential to damage the ground water; are there historical sites they may damage; and what noise may be caused in this area and what/who would that noise affect? 

The Air Force has also contracted a company called LSI to make phone calls to the landowners to inform them of what to expect on their property as they survey the area. 

The workers may also be surveying potential land the Air Force would want to build the housing hub on for the workers.

The survey portion is expected to take until October, and the entire project is estimated to take about 5 years to complete. 

“We’ve got the first step underway, and it's exciting,” Warner said. “And we will get additional information as it comes.”