HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 08 1989 Accord Reached on Sebastian AirportAccord Reached On Sebastian Airport
By PATRICIA DiLALLA
Sebastian Bureau Chief
Attorneys for Sebastian and the Federal Avi-
ation Administration have worked out an
agreement that would put ordinances imple-
menting the airport charter amendments on
hold for up to a year.
If the council refuses to go along with the
agreement and enacts the ordinances, then the
FAA will attempt to reclaim the airport prop-
erty and turn it over to another owner, said Bob
Eisengrein, senior attorney for the FAA.
Going along with the agreement could pre-
vent costly litigation whose outcome would be
uncertain, said Eliot Cutler, the city's airport
attorney.
If the city loses in court, it will lose own-
ership of the airport and "its ability to control
use of the airport," Cutler said.
As far as the FAA is concerned, if it loses, the
consequences would be serious and would
extend beyond Sebastian to other cities in simi-
lar situations, he said.
Acting on Cutler's advice, in a 4-1 vote
Wednesday, with Councilman Frank Oberbeck
voting against, Council approved the first read-
ing of the ordinances and set a public hearing
and second reading for a special meeting
Monday.
At that meeting, council will decide whether
to go along with the proposed agreement.
If it does, the ordinances will be tabled and
the city will apply for up to $200,000 in federal
grant money to fund a study.
"An essential premise of the .study," states
the proposed agreement, "would be that the
airport's role and use must be consistent with
the overall goals and needs of the city of Sebas-
tian in a proper balance with appropriate feder-
al objectives."
The study, which would have to be completed'
within a year, would include an operations.
survey and forecast, noise.study and analysis,
environmental analysis, economic analysis and
forecast and engineering and design analysis.
When finished, the study would serve as a
basis for negotiations between the city and the
FAA to determine the future role of the airport.
Until the study is done,.the FAA would not
take part in any legal action against the city
concerning the charter amendments and the
city would refrain from approving the ordi-
nances.
The FAA's position, Eisengrein told the coun-
cilmen, is that enforcing the 65 decibel restric-
tion required under the charter amendment
would be unjustly discriminatory and a viola-
tion of federal law because the "the area of air-
craft noise has been federally pre-empted by
the United States."
Not only will the FAA attempt to reclaim the
property and transfer to another owner, but it
also will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to
file for a temporary injunction prohibiting en-
forcement until the reversion has taken place
and seek an order preventing use of the airport
enterprise fund for legal costs to defend the city
in litigation, Eisengrein.
Thursday, June 8, 1989, Vero Beach, Fla., Press -Journal