Ghost of Bridgeford Flying Service remains near Napa County Airport (KAPC), California

THURSDAY - JANUARY 10, 2013 - NAPA, CA - This billboard near the Napa County Airport still bears the name of Bridgeford Flying Services, even though the name was changed to Napa Jet Center in September 2011. 

J.L. Sousa/Register

Napa County Airport’s aviation provider changed its name more than a year ago, but its sign facing a nearby highway is still stuck in 2011 — and will remain so for at least a few more months. 

 A display on the west side of Highway 29 points airport visitors to Bridgeford Flying Services at the airport. Bridgeford, however, has been known as the Napa Jet Center since September 2011, when the company rebranded itself after a remodeling of its flight center.

While Napa Jet Center operates on county-owned property, its billboard remains on a privately owned lot — a quirk that has so far frustrated hopes for removing the obsolete display.

“Every time we’ve wanted to make a move, it’s been, ‘What do we have to do to get someone’s permission?’” said Martin Pehl, the airport manager.

SA Challenger Inc., a Minneapolis firm affiliated with U.S. Bank, acquired the billboard site in foreclosure in September and allowed county workers onto the parcel to try to remove or change the sign, according to David Casty, a SA Challenger vice president.

Pehl said the company gave airport staff the month of December to change the Bridgeford sign, but December rains left the ground too unstable to support a cherry picker. “We tried ladders but we couldn’t get high enough,” he said Wednesday.

Pehl said Napa County will seek SA Challenger’s permission for another crack at the sign, but first needs to let the soil dry thoroughly.

“If we’d had access a month sooner, we would have done it, but we had a bit of bad luck working against us,” Pehl said of December’s heavy rains.

The sign frame will stay in place at the property owner’s request, Pehl said. “We just want to clean it up, remove the eyesore,” he said. “Maybe in the future we can negotiate an easement for a monument-type sign, but that’s in the far future.”

Napa Jet Center is a business aviation firm that provides aircraft storage, charter services, maintenance, flight training and other services. The company and Bridgeford, its forerunner, have operated at the Napa airport since 1946.

Story and Photo:  http://napavalleyregister.com  

Ghost of Bridgeford Flying Service remains near airport 

Bridgeford Flying Services becomes Napa Jet Center

http://www.napajetcenter.com

http://www.napacountyairport.org