The Fayette County Airport Authority will meet Wednesday to name a manager for the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport.
Authority
Chairman Fred Davis said Monday that candidates for the position are
being interviewed by board members Sam Cortis and Matt Thomas.
“I
tasked (Cortis) and (Thomas) to do the interviews because (Cortis)
formerly managed the airport and (Thomas) is a human resource manager
with a Fortune 500 company,” said Davis. “I would anticipate that the
list will be trimmed before we meet Wednesday.”
Board member
Myrna Giannopolis said that approximately a dozen applicants had
submitted their resume to the authority by the March 8 deadline.
According
to the advertisement, the position requires a wide range of
qualifications, including “a thorough understanding” of aircraft and
aviation safety procedures on the airport grounds and airspace; good
communication, networking, marketing and entrepreneurial skills; ability
to manage and/or perform equipment maintenance operation of various
types of equipment and the ability to train employees to safely operate
the equipment; manage or perform ground maintenance, including
vegetation control, snow removal, storm water and runway/taxiway
surfaces.
The successful candidate should additionally possess a
commercial driver’s license(CDL), have knowledge of all airport
services, possess customer service skills and aid the authority in
developing a business plan and budget, according to the job description.
The manager will additionally oversee the work of a bookkeeper and administrative assistant.
While
a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot’s license is not
required, it is “strongly” preferred, according to the advertisement.
The starting salary is $42,000 and includes health benefits.
The
manager’s position was opened in January, when former manager —Mary Lou
Fast — agreed to a layoff. Her departure coincided with the resignation
of former Chairman Terrence “Tuffy” Shallenberger. The Fayette County
Commission chose Cortis to fill Shallenberger’s unexpired term on the
board.
“We need a manager to operate the airport and be familiar
with the FAA regulations,” said Davis, adding that the safety of those
on the ground and in the air is the top priority for the authority.
Davis
said that the addition of the CDL will allow for the manager to perform
some of the work that was previously done by outside contractors.
“We want to reduce our costs, and having a manager with a commercial license will allow that to happen,” he said.
The authority board will also discuss ongoing deficiencies as documented in a July 5, 2011, FAA inspection report.
According
to a Feb. 4 letter to the board, the “unauthorized uses of airport
property and the failure to collect Fair Market Value (FMV) rent to
maintain a self-sustaining rate structure and address other
deficiencies” remain unresolved.
“(The unresolved deficiencies)
indicate to us that (the authority) is not making a good faith effort to
fulfill its federal obligation with the grant assurances in a timely
manner,” said Mahendra Raghubeer, FAA airports compliance program
manager.
Davis said that the authority has, and continues to work
toward compliance to ensure federal grants continue to flow to the
airport.
“Some of the issues have been addressed, and some are
being addressed in an ongoing fashion,” said Davis. “Our former
solicitor has responded to them and we are awaiting their response.
“Once we see (the FAA) response, we will address any remaining issues.”
The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the airport conference room.
Source: http://www.heraldstandard.com
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