Airport commissioners and JPs find common ground

The meeting room in the terminal was packed to overflowing for the Dec. 21 Carroll County Airport Commission meeting. Judge Sam Barr, one incoming and six current Justices of the Peace, several pilots and interested others joined commissioners in a robust and honest discussion of the airport’s financial situation

Pilot and hangar tenant Harper Goodwin said he first came to CCA in 2013, and, “I saw what it was and what it is now, and the difference is profound.” He gave statistics from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics indicating CCA provides an estimated economic output for the county of $1.483 million per year, but the county allocated only $40,000 for operation of the county airport.

Goodwin stated the commissioners were considering resigning if the county did not fund even a bare bones budget, but, “these folks are not quitters.” He asked JPs what level of frustration they would have to experience to consider quitting something they were committed to, and that is where the excellent stewards of the county airport find themselves.

He claimed the commission has been alerting the quorum court for two years, and urged JPs “to do what is right for the county” and adequately fund the airport.

JP Noreen Watson announced she was on the budget committee and is pro-airport, but has priorities to abide by. The budget committee is bound by an ordinance that stipulates priorities for the county budget are the five administrative offices at the courthouse, the sheriff’s department and the road department. All other county departments, including CCA, are secondary. She later cleared up misinformation that commissioner Morris Pate had heard that CCA did indeed have its own line item in the budget and was not just a sub-category.

Watson said her priority for this budget was providing raises for department heads of the priority departments because they were significantly underpaid compared to the same positions in similar counties. To bring them up to that comparable level would take $20,000, so the budget committee dropped CCA to $40,000.

“People are more important than planes,” Watson said, which she later explained meant she valued the raises for county employees in this budget more than the increase for the airport.

She explained that the commission had asked for $60,000, so the budget committee offered $60,000 but for $20,000 to be applied to a loan, leaving the commission free of that debt. That offer was not accepted. The final allotment that the budget committee passed was for $50,000 for operations and $10,000 relief on the $20,000 debt.

She also mentioned she was irritated by tactics of the commission, but pointed out the raises had already been voted on and there is only so much left in the budget. She suggested the airport could raise fuel prices or hangar lease fees.

JP Jack Deaton reiterated CCA was not the only county department to get cut. “They’ve all got their hands out,” he noted, and added the state government has pulled support from projects like 4-H, so the county must help out, plus there is the very expensive federal mandate to upgrade the radio system for dispatch.

He said he did not want the airport to go away, but it ruffled his feathers the way the commission handled the impasse. “I applaud you guys” he told commissioners, but asked if they were not moving too fast toward future expansion, and maybe other organizations in the county, not only the quorum court, should be participating.

JP Chuck Olson noticed there seemed to be a basic disconnect between the two well-meaning groups. “Let’s work together more. Let’s make this thing fly,” Olson said.

Pilot Ron Dugger countered Watson’s suggestion regarding hangar leases stating Harrison was bigger and not a good comparison, but Airport Manager Michael Pfeifer did a comparison of similar airports and the commission adjusted leases accordingly. He claimed CCA benefits the entire county, and disagreed that CCA should be considered a secondary status in the county budget. He said pilots he speaks with say this is the best commission and best manager ever for CCA.

Businessman Corey Schneider commented CCA was the crowning jewel of the county, and added he recently had a client fly in and do business here before flying back home.

Judge Sam Barr said he had been on the commission years ago and was in the Air Force. He said he had done what the commission asked of him, and he can see the airport needs more money, but said the different departments need to be a family and get through the financial situation together. “I can’t give you more money,” Barr said.

Commissioner Sandy Martin said she understood from the comments so far no one wanted CCA to close, and commissioners did not want to resign, but frustration mounts when there are gaps in communication. She said the commission has wanted a commitment from the county but instead was grouped with a charity in budget discussions. Regarding Olson’s comment about a disconnect, Martin stated, “We’d love nothing more than to sit down and work this out.”

She was heartened by comments of support but disheartened by suggestions so far on how CCA could increase its cash flow. The commission already raised fuel prices and hangar leases, and Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney laughed when asked about sponsoring CCA.

Barr replied JPs have a difficult job slicing up the budget pie, but when the pie is gone, it’s gone. He said other departments go to the quorum court when they need something mid-year and JPs consider their requests.

JP Larry Swofford commented the current airport commission was doing the best he had ever seen in his long tenure on the court, and County Treasurer-elect Makita Williams agreed commissioners regularly paid down a debt to the county once they knew about it but stopped after a point. Commissioner Jason Tennant replied the commission did not have enough in its general funds to continue paying down the debt, and relieving some of the debt does not help cash flow. He predicted an allocation of $50,000 might last till summer.

Deaton pointed out the county cannot make guarantees to any department about future budget allotments. JP Marty Johnson reiterated commissioners were doing a great job but the county has only so much money to go around, but encouraged the commission to come back midyear if there was a pressing need. Martin said she has done that three years in a row, and noted “a consistency of being ignored.”

The same points surfaced again until JP John Howerton observed the only commitment JPs could make would be to attend meetings to get the real story, and admitted the discussion at that meeting gave him a better understanding than he gets from reports. “We were in the dark about all this,” he announced. Tennant invited them all to every meeting.

Chair Chase Tresler, addressing a comment made earlier, told those present, “I was born and raised in Berryville, and I am a person, not an airplane.” He pointed to others in the room and each time repeated, “He’s a person, not an airplane.” He said he did not like the comment about persons over planes because the hundreds of people who fly in during the year are people, not planes. Tresler said he has a family here, flies in and out of here and pays taxes here, and CCA was not a rich man’s hobby like some have stated. He said half the planes out there cost much, much less than some vehicles around town. Folks fly in and out of CCA for real-person reasons.

Tresler said he would be okay with $50,000 offered by the budget committee and figure it out from there, and defended commission decisions about fuel prices and hangar lease fees. He also pointed the commission uses a healthy portion of their allotment just to pay the manager.

Swofford said the court would try not to cut the airport next year, but could not promise anything because even the priority group might get cut. Tresler followed that, “We don’t want a bunch of money. We just want to pay our bills.”

After the discussion, commissioners called an executive session for a personnel matter, after which Tresler announced the commission voted to take no action.

Next meeting will be Friday, Jan. 18, at 12 p.m.