"NC Commissioners Discuss Airport Management Contract"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Commissioners Discuss Airport Management Contract
BY FLORENCE GILKESON
The Southern Pines (NC) Pilot


The Moore County Airport was back on the commissioners' agenda Thursday
night, but this time the subject centered on contracts.

No action was taken, in keeping with policy of the Board of Commissioners,
because the occasion was a work session, not a regular meeting. The
commissioners spent almost an hour discussing contract issues with Tom Van
Camp, attorney for the Airport Authority, and County Attorney Misty Randall
Leland.

The subject of financing hangars did arise during the discussion with Van
Camp offering advice that the county should consider the issue of control
before contracting the hangar construction/rental business to private
enterprise.

"My hope is that we can come to some agreement," said Van Camp in reference
to two contracts on the table.

One contract covers financial services provided by the county to the
airport. The other is for general management of the airport by the
authority. The five-member board was established by legislative action, but
the commissioners appoint all five members. The airport is owned by the
county.

The financial services contract, setting an annual fee of $20,000, is for
one year, renewable up to five years. The management contract also covers
one year and may be automatically extended yearly for up to five years.

County Manager Cary McSwain pointed out that the major difference in the new
financial services contract is the stipulation that the authority must
contract independently for all external audits.

McSwain said he had no problem with the change, and Leland concurred.

Van Camp said the contract delineates areas of responsibility and clears up
such routine details as ownership and operational duties. He said the
contract issue is not directly connected to the authority's request for a $2
million loan to build hangars for rental by pilots and aircraft owners.

However, the general management contract does contain a provision specifying
that the authority "shall be entitled to retain all revenues produced at the
airport" and accepts responsibility for current debt service for hangar
construction. The contract reports those debts as $18,238.44 due June 1 and
$156,094 due Dec. 1.

The next paragraph notes an exception in which the county receives all grant
funds and has the right to apply such funds for purposes set out in the
grants. This is a reference to Federal Aviation Administration grants
awarded to airports for safety projects, which require 5 percent matching
allocations shared by the county and the state. The county yearly budgets
funds to meet those matches.

Sparks Fly

The authority recently asked the commissioners to support a $2 million loan
in order to build new hangars to accommodate pilots and aircraft owners
interested in renting hangar space at the Moore County Airport. The airport
already rents out a number of existing hangars for that purpose but has a
waiting list of about 23 would-be tenants.

Airport supporters argued that the county is competing with the Lee County
Airport, where some pilots are now renting hangars because none is available
in Moore County. They argued that such rentals are lucrative and crucial to
the county's booming tourism business not only because of the rental money
but also because they attract new business to the county and add to both
property and sales tax collections.

Opponents argued that it is not the county's responsibility to provide
specialized service to pilots and that this is not a good time to add to
debt service because of obligations to build new school buildings and new
government facilities.

Arguments also focused on disbursement of tax revenues collected on behalf
of the airport but placed in the county general fund and the understanding
that the county allocates funds to provide grant matches and for other
needs.

At the last board meeting, a contractor offered to build the hangars himself
and manage the enterprise at the airport. The commissioners then delayed
action on the matter and instructed the staff to study the offer and
determine its practicality.

County Finance Officer Lisa Hughes had prepared statistics covering the
revenues collected by the airport and operational and other costs entailed
over a period of years.

Commissioner Tim Lea, a critic of the authority's hangar loan measure, asked
about a previous private enterprise hangar program at the airport and wanted
to know how well it worked out.

Van Camp offered to research that issue and determine how well that
operation worked. The attorney said other options may be available but the
county should consider such issues as loss of control if the hangar project
is turned over to a private contractor.

Lea said that once the county can verify the financial situation, it should
be possible to iron out these issues "without all the sniping" of recent
weeks.

The discussion was marked by one outburst between Lea and Commissioner Larry
Caddell, who do not see eye to eye on the hangar proposal.

At one point, Lea sharply asked Caddell not to interrupt while he was
speaking, after pointing out that he does not interrupt when Caddell is
speaking.

Chairman Colin McKenzie quickly stepped into the fray with the comment
"Knock it off, Tim."


   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php

*****************************************