By Walter B. Bull Jr.
Pinehurst, North Carolina
Steam rises off The Pilot's blogs when the subject is the Moore County Airport. There are a lot of comments about the facility, and many of them are very negative. Facts don't mean much to some of those writers, who start with a conclusion and work backward.
As for me, I believe that you cannot have a first-class resort destination without ease of access by air. If the destination does not provide enough traffic to support commercial service, there is a still a need for a convenient airport to accommodate those who travel by air privately or by charter.
That is my opinion, folks, and no amount of banter or name-calling will change it.
The Moore County Airport has a unique and interesting history. The facility first came into being in 1929, when the Tufts family opened a dirt runway and named it "Knollwood Airport." In 1935, Moore County acquired the airport from the Knollwood Development Company.
The airport should be an outstanding asset to our community, but it has sparked vocal debate for quite some time.
Over the years, county Commiss-ioner Tim Lea has been the source of much anti-airport commentary. His commentary is printed and reprinted in news stories of The Pilot and then echoed by a second group of discontents by letters to the editor or Web comments.
A good example of the negative tone is Lea's remark made recently when the commissioners approved the use of room occupancy tax funds in the amount of $344,445 to match a $3.1 million from the Federal Aviation Administration. His remark "Are we going to have to move the college?" was used in a news story on Jan. 18 and then repeated on Jan. 20.
Lea may have been referring to an extension of the runway to be designated a "displaced threshold" that serves to improve instrument landing navigation and will be available for takeoffs only.
George Little, chairman of Sandhills Community College, says he does not believe there will be any impact on the college. There will be some tree removal in the flight path, he thinks, but no impact on college operation.
"We work closely with the airport," Little told me. A meeting is scheduled to bring the college leadership together with the airport authority later this week.
The real story was the close cooperation among the Moore County Convention and Visitors Bureau, county government, the airport and the office of state Rep. Jamie Boles to amend the local agreement that establishes authority to tax room occupancy.
The change will permit the county to use funds from the tax to provide matching dollars for the deal with the FAA. The result is that "taxpayer's money" remains untouched for the improvements and funds are obtained from visitors to Moore County. Monies spent for capital improvements at the airport are truly "user fees."
Taxpayers to Stop Airport Waste has been another frequent critic of airport operations. Its Web publication makes a long list of grievances. Among them is alleged mistreatment of a local property owner. The site says she was "threatened >and told the county >and the Airport Authority >would condemn her property, seize it by eminent domain, if she didn't sell it to the airport for far less than the property was worth."
The site says the owner sold, but now rents her home from the airport, but that family members say she is in terror that at any moment she'll >be "thrown out on the street."
Nonsense. Public records and additional information contributed by Airport Manager Ron Maness say three separate appraisals valued the property at less than $1 million and yet the amount paid by the airport was nearly $1.2 million. The seller has a life tenancy to occupy the property and to continue her business operations. "Thrown out on the street" is inflammatory and incorrect.
A quote in The Pilot claiming the airport plans to spend millions on improvements appears to be inaccurate.
"I have no idea where they obtained a figure of $16.2 million for improvements," Maness says, adding that the airport "is not losing money, and all of the hanger space is rented with a waiting list."
It is hard to figure out what airport opponents are trying to accomplish, but it certainly is not being supportive of growing economic activity in Moore County.
By Walter B. Bull Jr.
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