February 14, 2012By John McVey - Journal-News
MARTINSBURG - Eastern Regional Airport Authority officials are looking for ways to fill a large budget gap left by the National Guard Bureau's decision to pull funding from the authority.
Bill Walkup, airport manager, asked Berkeley County Council members Monday for $49,500 for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
County Council allocated $27,000 to the Airport Authority for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Walkup said the authority plans to ask Martinsburg City Council for the same amount.
For county and municipal governments to appoint members to the authority, the government entities must contribute $5,000 per member.
Berkeley County appoints three members, therefore that allocation is $15,000, and in past years, the county has allotted $12,000 for capital improvements at the airport for a total of $27,000.
"The big change is we're asking for (an additional) $22,500 to offset the loss of the National Guard Bureau joint use agreement," Walkup told County Council members Monday. "That is 50 percent of the National Guard Bureau's annual payment."
NGB is the federal agency that handles agreements between general aviation airports, like Eastern Regional Airport, and Air Force National Guard units, like the 167th Airlift Wing, which uses the Eastern Regional Airport as its base.
The Airport Authority and NGB had a joint use agreement, which expired at the end of June, that paid the authority $45,000 a year for the 167th's use of the airport.
In July, NGB offered a new five-year joint use agreement that would have paid the Airport Authority $45,000 in the first year and then the payments would have been reduced each year to $1 in the fifth year.
Airport Authority members rejected that offer by a 4-1 vote.
In November, NGB rescinded its original offer and made another offer that would pay $1 a year for the next five years.
At their meeting earlier this month, Airport Authority members voted 3-2 to table any action on NGB's latest offer until their meeting in March.
"There is some hope that a joint use agreement could be signed that might be more favorable to the Airport Authority by our March 6 meeting," Walkup said.
Airport Authority Chairman Rick Wachtel explained to County Council members Monday that U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., had contacted the authority about trying to resolve the joint use agreement impasse.
He said authority members were waiting to hear from Rockefeller's office but would take definite action on the latest NGB offer at their next meeting.
"If we sign a joint use agreement with the National Guard Bureau, we will drop our request for the $22,500," Wachtel said. "But I don't know how we're going to operate the airport without additional funding from the county and the city."
He has said that the joint use agreement payment accounted for about 18 percent of the Airport Authority's operating budget, adding that the authority has had a significant cash flow problem since July because it has not received any payments from the National Guard Bureau since the previous joint use agreement expired.
County Councilman Doug Copenhaver asked Walkup how the authority would stay afloat through the end of the year.
Walkup said the authority receives revenue from renting hangars and from some land-lease agreements it has with companies that have buildings in the authority's business park.
Also, Berkeley County Council members and Martinsburg City Council members have agreed to re-allocate $12,000 and $3,700, respectively, from maintenance funds to operating expenses.
County Council members must have their budget finished and submitted to the state for review by March 28.
Source: http://www.journal-news.net
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