Conversation at the Dec. 15 Carroll County Airport Commission meeting dropped anchor at one subject and all other topics circled around it: the Quorum Court budget committee had proposed to allocate $40,000 in support to CCA during 2018, the same as 2017.
Airport Manager Michael Pfeifer stated CCA will get $3333.33 per month from the Quorum Court as the county budget stands now, which to him meant the airport will be barely able to eke by.
Pilot Dale Mitchell pointed out the proposed allocation from the county was less than the operating budget, yet CCA is making money for the county. He has seen CCA and Berryville mentions in national aeronautics magazines, and more pilots are flying in. Mitchell’s view was being a contributor to the local economy should justify enough support to operate adequately.
Part-time bookkeeper Lanna Fletcher pointed out the window to workers resurfacing the taxiway, and commented they lived locally and were being paid by federal money, yet their paychecks will be circulated around the county.
Commissioner Dave Teigen said he found a report he delivered to the Quorum Court in 2009 – when CCA got $70,000 annually – about the economic impact of the airport to the county. Using the 343 landings and takeoffs at CCA that year multiplied by figures supplied by Arkansas Parks & Tourism, he was able to calculate a conservative estimate of the direct impact to the local economy of $126,400. However, a dollar coming to town gets multiplied through the county as many as seven times, so using a “very conservative multiplier of only two,” the indirect impact would have added another $250,000. Using a mid-range multiplier of 4.5 would have meant the county received in excess of an additional $568,000 in indirect impact to its economy through CCA, and these were numbers from eight years ago.
Teigen said with hard data like this available he was having a difficult time accepting that the airport asked for additional $1700 per month to keep its head above water and was turned down. He said he wished voters in the county would understand the situation and “speak up for how valuable this piece of land is to the county.”
Commissioner Morris Pate said he has heard the opinion that CCA is for a select few and not everyone is going to ride a plane out here, so they do not care about the airport. Teigen responded CCA was designed to bring people to the county, not to be home to a commuter airline. He lamented the fact that the public fails to recognize the importance of a place where people can fly in for business or pleasure, and do not stay at the airport but head toward town, stay a few nights and eat and shop.
Teigen added that the figures he provided earlier were just for tourism dollars coming to the county. There was also what Fletcher had mentioned about funds from federal grants being used to hire local contractors who employ local workers. Pfeifer said federal grant dollars coming to CCA in 2017 totaled a half million, under the $700,000 of the year before. Teigen remarked the federal grants improve county property, and not one dime comes from local taxpayers.
He added that CCA is a public use airport, and air ambulances are in and out regularly. He remembered an occasion in the past when a patient even received dialysis on the tarmac. CCA gets nothing extra for being available for these public emergencies. It makes its own money from hangar rentals, fuel sales and a bit from leases to businesses. Teigen insisted CCA is trying to be self-sustaining, and when it gets a few more hangars it might be able to support itself. But at the moment, “we are bleeding trying to get the electrical bill paid.” Teigen said he has walked into the airport and found every light in the building off because Pfeifer was trying to save on utility bills, “and this is a county building!” He asked if anyone had ever entered the assessor’s office, for example, and found people working in the dark.
He said there are hangars, which are county property, in need of repair, which at some point will pose a hazard to the aircraft parked below. He repeated he could not understand why CCA asked for only $1700 per month more but got shot down.
Pate commented commissioners make the same case every year, continue to improve the airport and get less money. He said someone commented the hangars would make good hay barns.
Consulting engineer Dan Clinton CCA said Jerry Chisholm, head of Arkansas Department of Aeronautics, could help. Clinton said Chisholm understands because he has seen situations like this and has solutions. Chisholm is not a politician, and could possibly give the Quorum Court a bigger perspective.
Clinton said, “The Federal Aviation Administration expects this airport to be run in a safe and efficient manner, and if you don’t have the money to do it, you’ve got to find a way to do it.”
Final observation from Mitchell was maybe the JPs could see only the $1700 per month they did not think they could give CCA, not the bigger positive financial impact of the airport on the county.
Next meeting will be Friday, Jan. 19, at 12 p.m.