HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 05 1989 Airport Board Vents Woes For Last TimeAirport Board
Vents Woes
For Last Time
By PATRICIA DiLALLA
Sebastian Bureau Chief
In what was probably its last
meeting, Sebastian's Airport Advi-
sory Board met for 17 minutes
Tuesday, and members questioned
how well the money in the airport
fund would be spent and released
some pent-up frustration on the
airport situation.
Today, City Council will take
final action on an ordinance that
would dissolve the board, which,
city records indicate, has been in
existence since at least 1962.
Only four board members
showed up: Chairman Bob Morrow
and members Ed Paluch, Ken
Meguin and Ted Ahneman.
Paluch, a 17-year member of the
board, urged the people who will
take charge of the airport money to
use it "where it should be
used ... for improvements and
expenses of the aviation commu-
nity."
Of the, approximately $240,000
remaining in the airport fund,
members worried that most of it
would be used for legal fees. Last
week, council hired a Washington,
D.C., attorney to draft ordinances
implementing the airport refer-
endum for an estimated $25,000-
$50,000 in legal fees.
If the city is sued over the air-
port, the attorney advised fees
could run in the hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars.
"This sort of reminds me of what
I went through several ,years ago
during my divorce proceedings,"
Paluch said. "Thinking I had made
an amicable agreement with my
ex-wife, when the attorneys got
involved, they took 40 percent of
our estate before it was all over."
Morrow, who has been outspoken
in defense of the airport during the
past tumultuous two years, said if
council decides to go ahead with
slurry sealing the runways, "If it is
a wonderful idea, they might as
well start slurry sealing the streets
around Sebastian.
"My personal opinion is that I
have been on quite a few boards
before coming to Sebastian. I have
seen some nasty political fights. I
have never heard as much misin-
formation as I have heard in the
last couple of years on this adviso-
ry board and misstatements from
various sources. It has been any-
thing but a pleasurable experi-
ence," he said.
Morrow criticized council for re-
jecting the board's recommenda-
tion to put in security lighting at
the airport, which, he said, was
made by the police chief. Improved
security was needed because of the
thefts that have occurred in which
$50,000 worth of equipment has
been taken, he said.
In the end, the board recom-
mended that council approve a re-
quest by the Schutzhund Club to
extend its lease for a year on air-
port property and allow a brochure
on the airport to be completed.