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ANR
Dear Editor:
I reference Agenda Item 5 of the Feb. 16 revised Airport Authority meeting minutes which states that the manager indicates that four additional airplanes are coming to the airport needing hangars.
The FAA has been quite clear about the fact that airplane usage of hangars funded in whole or in part by federal grants from the FAA must have priority over any other type of interim usage. All hangars at the Al Potter Field have been partially funded by federal grants. Due to lack of need for hangars to store airplanes, and to utilize old hangars unsuitable for airplane storage, the Airport Authority has made provisions to allow use of some hangars for “non-aviation storage” of personal property.
Now comes the decision of which ones of the “non-aviation storage” hangars must be emptied to accommodate aircraft storage as required by law. Of necessity, this will cause some consternation to a few people, including the largest customer at the airport, the Aurora Cooperative. The Coop currently rents the two large maintenance hangars (Bldg. D & E); two normal airplane hangars (Hangars 18 & 20 in Bldg. T-3) in excellent condition with electric bi-fold doors, but currently used for chemical storage only; one large aircraft storage hangar with electric bi-fold doors where they keep their corporate turbo-jet airplane (Bldg. A); and one lot they rent for a building they built and use for Chemical Storage (Bldg. B).
The reason they will be affected is due to the loss of the two very desirable aircraft hangars (Hangars 18 & 20 in Bldg. T-3), which by law must now be assigned for use by the first two airplane owners requesting hangars. However, this works in a beneficial way for the Airport Authority because they are currently only being used for the storage of chemicals. This is in direct conflict with provisions within the signed FAA grant assurances they have guaranteed to the FAA on their application for the 90 percent funding of the new taxiway and apron project.
The Airport Authority has made some poor choices in the past, as they did when they just gave away the antique rotating beacon and lighted wind tee to Rick Boardman versus a public offering or a donation to the Plainsman Museum. They may now try to dodge the legal statutes regarding hangar usage, but we must not allow them to do so. Please visit with the mayor, city manager and city councilmen and urge them to hold the Airport Authority and airport manager to a higher degree of adherence to state and federal regulations. Going forward the Airport Authority members must commit to dedicating their actions and policies towards FAA acceptable “community” versus “friends of the manager” benefits.
D. Ross Beins,
Aurora
