"Federal Agencies Hit Macon, Ga., Airport With 27 Citations"

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Federal Agencies Hit Macon, Ga., Airport With 27 Citations
By Travis Fain
The Macon (GA) Telegraph


The Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation
Administration have noted 27 citations -- including some security concerns
-- at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport, Macon airport director George
Brown said Monday. 

Brown gave some examples of the problems Monday and said federal officials
are already working with his staff to correct them. But he would not provide
a Nov. 29 letter that spells out the citations because, he said, it contains
sensitive security information and is not subject to the Georgia Open
Records Act. Macon Chief Administrative Officer Regina McDuffie agreed. 

City Council members were incensed to learn of the situation, which Brown
did not mention until Councilwoman Elaine Lucas asked him about it during
discussion of another matter during Monday's Appropriations Committee
meeting. Lucas said she had heard of the citations from her husband, state
Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon. 

The citations revelation came as Brown was seeking council approval for
contract changes for work at the airport. But with limited information on
the citations and because of other problems with the contracts, which Brown
acknowledged were not handled in accordance with city protocol, the
committee tabled the contract issue until more information is available. 

Brown said none of the citations is serious. He invited council members to a
Wednesday afternoon meeting with TSA and FAA officials, representatives from
the airport's lone airline, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and the city's
airport consultant. 

"By the end of the week almost all of these problems, if not all of them,
will go away," Brown said. 

Brown said the Nov. 29 letter mentions: 

That access to certain portions of the airport is not controlled properly. 

There is a lack of security knowledge by airport personnel. 

There is a problem with airport runway striping. 

Some of the problems date back to May, Brown said. That's when the airport
passed security standards it had to meet to regain status as a Category IV
airport -- a designation that allows airplanes with more than 60 seats to
use the airport. The airport lost that designation in January, but it later
passed muster with federal regulators. 

The airport could lose that designation again if it doesn't address the
citations, but Brown said he doesn't think that will happen. 

One of the citations deals with a gate that controls access to one of the
roads leading into the airport, Brown said. That gate is being automated as
part of a larger project, which includes utility lines for private hangars
at the airport. Contracts for that project were not reviewed by the city
attorney's office or the council, Brown said. One, with a plumber, was based
on a standard contract found on the Internet, he said. 

Much of the work has already been completed, Brown said. 

"So you have already done it and you want us to approve what you have done?"
Appropriations Committee Chairman Henry Ficklin said. 

"Very, very bad precedent," said Councilman Rick Hutto. 

But Brown noted that when the city solicited bids for the construction work,
no one responded. So he actively sought a contractor and ended up getting
the work done for less than the city had budgeted. 

"We were behind schedule," Brown said. "Way behind schedule. ... My task was
to get it delivered."

Said Ficklin: "So much done without the proper authorization. ... We're here
to make sure that the processes that have been established are carried out."


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