North Adams Airport Commission Down Two Members
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission is down two members down with the dismissal of Trevor Gilman and the temporary leave of Chairman Jeff Naughton.
The commission voted to appoint Armand Boillat as the interim chairman Tuesday to replace Naughton.
"Jeff had to take a temporary leave of absence and we are looking at about three months," Boillat said.
With Gilman being removed late last year by former Mayor Richard Alcombright, this leaves only three members on the five-person commission.
Gilman was removed from the commission in the last week of the year after police began investigating irregularities in the airport's fuel account.
He stated in a letter posted on social media that he was confident the allegations would be proven false and said four individuals have been attacking him and other airport officials.
"There are four individuals who have been on a mission to attack me personally as well as the rest of the airport management," he wrote. "Some of them have filed numerous unsubstantiated complaints with multiple agencies for every violation you could imagine. I have been defending the Commission and myself personally for almost a year now from these attacks. Not one of them has resulted in any violation."
Boillat declined to comment on the investigation when asked about how much gas was allegedly stolen.
"That is under investigation as far as I know, and we cannot comment on that," he said.
Boillat added that it would be up to Mayor Thomas Bernard when Gilman's seat is refilled or if Gilman would be allowed to be re-seated if the allegations are proven false.
Gilman has been involved with the airport for years on a voluntary basis, including help run TeamFlys, a private company that offers flight lessons and scenic flights.
Alex Kelly, who recently purchased TeamFlys from owner Paul Renaud, addressed the commission about his plans to expand operations at the airport.
"I am not looking to reinvent the wheel but just run a flight school," said Kelly, who owns an aviation business in Bennington, Vt. "They are all over the country but the difference with this is that I am motivated and ready to invest ... I think we can bring a lot of positive attention and some activity here. At the very least, we will burn a lot of fuel and purchase a lot of fuel from you."
Kelly said he has five planes and could potentially move them all to North Adams. He said he would like to operate a flight school, scenic flights, aircraft rental and tow plane.
He said the business he hopes to bring to North Adams will only help the community.
"We bring a lot of people from all around ... and our customer base is relatively affluent, and they come and have a lot of fun," he said. "People are blown away when they leave ... and they tell everybody about it for the rest of their lives and tell them what they did and where they did it."
Kelly said he would be interested in possibly purchasing a hangar with office space and noted that there was space available at the airport.
"I have looked at it and I know there is a lot of work to be done in there," he said. "It is in pretty bad shape and I don't know how it works but I would like to bid on it."
Kelly did ask how soon he could get an answer because he would like to start advertising. He did mention, with concern, that he already run into some issues with the airport.
"To be honest my experience so far has been kind of questionable and I just really wanted to see what the answer would be before I wasted any more time," he said. "It has been a very unique in this town for someone who is trying to invest in the town."
Kelly posted on social media that he had run into difficulties in purchasing TeamFlys because Gilman, who volunteers at the flight school, was setting up roadblocks, was a source of confusion and was abusing his power as an airport commissioner.
Gilman also took to social media and stated that these allegations were incorrect and he has only been a champion for the airport
Boillat said the commission welcomed the new business and asked to see a business proposal before it issues a letter of permission.
In other business, Administrative Officer Michael Canales said the city solicitor is still reviewing the airport's leases.
Because of confusion over what operations pay a lease at the airport, tenants asked that the commission try to set the record straight.
Canales said going forward they will set up a standardized lease and fee structure that everyone will follow
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