HARLINGEN, Texas — The Federal Aviation Administration has advised city officials to find a way to allow Sun Valley Aviation to operate at Valley International Airport.
Meeting Thursday in Fort Worth with Sun Valley Aviation officials and Mayor Chris Boswell, FAA representatives said the city and VIA board should find a “pathway for Sun Valley Aviation to operate at the airport,” Boswell said Friday.
Also attending the Fort Worth meeting were David Moran, the city’s legal counsel on the Sun Valley matter, and VIA board member Sam Coats.
The FAA’s recommendation is the latest action toward resolving Sun Valley Aviation owner Patrick Kornegay’s five-year effort to open an aviation services business at VIA.
Kornegay, whose company has filed a complaint against the airport with the FAA, said Friday that the FAA asked the company to supply additional information, but did not say much more about the meeting.
David Garza, owner of Gulf Aviation, the only fixed-base operation currently at VIA, said his position hasn’t changed — there is hardly enough business for one operation at VIA, much less two.
The VIA board will meet at 7:30 a.m. Monday to vote on whether it will amend its budget to provide as much as $350,000 to build a parking lot and apron to reach a hangar that Sun Valley would build on land leased from VIA.
That VIA board meeting will be followed by a special City Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m., at which time city commissioners could act on an airport budget amendment providing money for the VIA infrastructure improvements.
“Fundamentally, the lease that’s been on the table with Sun Valley Aviation provides for the airport to just lease the ground and (SVA) would build a new hangar facility,” Boswell said. “But there’s no access to that facility unless the north apron is built. It’s basically a driveway for airplanes.
“At the end of the day, (the FAA) asked the city to reexamine its grant obligations and to look for a way to bring Sun Valley Aviation onto the airport,” Boswell said. “(The FAA) said (Sun Valley Aviation’s) desire is in and of itself an indicator of need and (the FAA) said competition was good.”
Regardless of any action taken at Monday‘s meetings, Sun Valley’s complaint against VIA remains active.
“(The FAA) couldn’t tell us what the outcome of the complaint could be,” Boswell said. “But (the FAA) did specifically discuss that if the city was found to be in violation of FAA grant assurances, that FAA funding could be withheld and that we could be made to pay back monies and that we could be fined treble damages, which is a legal term meaning three times or triple.”
But if city and airport officials can find a way to allow Sun Valley to operate at VIA, that could influence the FAA’s ruling on Sun Valley’s complaint, Boswell said.
Kornegay was mostly mum about Thursday’s meeting.
“(The FAA) asked us to provide additional information to them, and we did that,” he said.
Kornegay did say that he thought the FAA would be issuing a determination on its complaint against VIA in the near future.
Garza said his position on a second FBO operating at the airport is still the same.
“The economy, right now, is still very weak. And yes, right now, there is hardly enough business for one, much less two FBOs,” he said.
He also said that it’s false that the FAA would just immediately cancel grant funding if Sun Valley Aviation isn’t allowed to operate at VIA.
“(The FAA) basically just comes down with a ruling and asks the airport to take action to come back into compliance and they give you a date to fulfill that plan,” Garza said. “So it’s not a doomsday or a do-or-die-kind-of thing, and so much of that has been portrayed in the past. The FAA does not work like that.”
Garza alleged that City Attorney Roxann Controneo and City Manager Carlos Yerena were not allowed to attend the meeting and said he found that unusual, adding that it diminishes any chance for transparency that could have come out of the meeting.
Boswell said that allegation was false.
“There’s no truth to that. It wasn’t that they weren’t allowed,” he said. “It was just a small group that went. Moran was the outside lawyer that represents us in this matter.”
The total cost for the project would be $1.5 million, but it would only be built if a FAA grant was secured. Harlingen would have an obligation of 10 percent, or $150,000 for a north apron. A parking lot would cost an additional $250,000. The city will only apply for the grant funding if the City Commission and the VIA board approve the amended budget.
For several years, Sun Valley has been trying to open an aviation services business, known in the industry as a fixed-base operation, at VIA. Gulf Aviation is currently the only FBO at the airport.
While Sun Valley would build its own hangar on land it would lease, it also wanted the same amenities provided to Gulf Aviation, which include a parking lot and an apron.
The airport board has passed budget amendments that would allow for these features, clearing the way for VIA to enter into a lease with Sun Valley. But the City Commission must approve the airport board’s amended budget, which it has repeatedly denied.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com
http://www.valleymorningstar.com
No comments:
Post a Comment