North Adams Continuing With Airport Hanger Purchase
The Airport Commission rescinded and the revoted on recommendations related to the purchase of the so-called Shamrock Hangar so that Commissioner Trevor Gilman could recuse himself.
Owner of Midnav and board member of Mohawk Soaring Brian Doyle asked the commission Tuesday if the Mohawk Soaring tow plane will be forced out of the hangar.
"Our tow plane is based there and it is not the kind of aircraft that can sit outside," he said. "It has an impact on us and we would like to know what's going on."
The city plans to purchase the hangar from current owner Liam Shirley using Non-Primary Entitlement Funds from the Federal Aviation Authority. The airport gets those funds annually and can also borrow them from other airports on the condition they be paid back.
Commissioner Trevor Gilman said no decision has been made on how the hangar will be used.
"There is no plan and there has been no discussion and we won't move forward with discussions until it is owned," he said.
Doyle asked who would be responsible for granting use of the hangar and Gilman said it would be up the commission.
He added that he would recuse himself from any vote because Teamflys — a company Gilman is associated with — uses the hangar.
Commissioner Armand Boillat said the commission has no interest in creating a hard time for its tenants.
Pilot Michael Milazzo said a lot of airport users feel blindsided by purchase and had no idea it was under consideration.
Peter Enzien, representing the airport's engineering firm Stantec, said it was discussed and voted on at a meeting in February.
He said the project is actually two separate pieces: the purchase and renovation of the hangar and upgrades to the motorized gate.
Both projects went out to bid in April and the lowest renovation bid came in at $168,000 and the gate project came in $30,850.
Enzien said construction is anticipated to begin in August.
Before moving on from the project update, the commission withdrew last month's vote to recommend that the city purchase the hangar and to borrow Non-Primary Entitlement Funds from Garner Airport to help fund the project. The commission then revoted the same recommendations with Gilman recusing himself.
Gilman asked that this be done after other airport users felt there could be a conflict of interest because of his participation in last month's vote.
"There has been a question brought up about my conflict of interest and my relationship with Teamflys and while I personally disagree that there is any conflict for safety's sake ... I want to recuse myself from the two votes," he said. "I want to eliminate any question or conflict that could come down the road."
Gilman says he has no financial interest in Teamflys but has helped in its management and is an authorized signer.
Doyle also had concerns about how the airport informs tenants of closures.
Airport Manager Bill Greenwald said he can determine if there will be a partial closure and just must notify the FAA. He said communicates a notice of the closure three days before it occurs.
In order for a full closure, the commission must vote and the FAA must approve it.
Greenwald urged tenants to check with him before they schedule events.
"Don't plan anything without clearing with me first. We may have construction scheduled or something else," he said. "I'm the manager and it is my job to run the airport and if there is ever a question call me and I can clear it up."
In his airport manager report, Greenwald said there was recently crack sealing at the airport through a state-wide program. He added that the state Department of Transportation was able to free up some money in the project to repaint the runway.
"So that is completely freshened up with all new white paint and the red markings were touched up," he said.
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