Astoria Regional (KAST), Oregon: Port of Astoria asks pilots to advise on airport - Group composed of airport users to gather information

When Brim Aviation approached the Port of Astoria in October asking for a chance to operate the Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton, it set off a conversation about how the facility should be run and tenants should be taxed – or whether a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) should do the job.

And at Tuesday’s Port of Astoria meeting, the Port Commission unanimously decided to hand much of the research over to the volunteer Airport Advisory Committee made up largely of local, retiree pilots.

“I think we can provide a fair amount of expertise … to advise the commission on how to approach the airport,” said pilot and retired dentist Philip Bales. “I think you should utilize experts that are available.”

The Port has reached a crossroads on the airport. The last FBO was John Overholser, whose contract was terminated by the Port in 2008 so it could hire him on as airport director. The Port laid him off last year to cut costs, and current Interim Executive Director Mike Weston started doubling as airport manager, among his other positions in the Port’s skeleton staff.

Bales, along with several other pilots, advisory committee members and the airport’s lone mechanic David West, have been regularly attending meetings as the Port decides whether to retain control of the facility or request proposals from private operators such as Brim, which flies the Columbia River Bar Pilots in its helicopters.

In a report to the commission, Weston calculated that between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, the Port netted nearly $100,000 in revenues from the airport’s fueling service, a main reason FBOs want to manage airports, and $32,047 from nearby T-hangars. But after utilities, labor, debt used to finance the Lektro electric vehicle company, grants and other additional costs, the Port takes in $16,000, which he added must be reinvested in the airport, as per Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

Commissioner Ric Gerttula said he wasn’t against FBOs, but that he’d fight to keep the fuel sales under the Port’s control.

What pilot and former County Commissioner John Raichl wants to keep under control is fees on planes that land but don’t buy fuel from the Port.

Weston said the Port has had a landing fee policy for some time – about $5 per propeller and higher fees for larger aircraft – but it was never enforced until he took over management of the airport in November. But the fee was met with immediate opposition, and the Port stopped enforcing it the same day.

Commissioner Stephen Fulton asked what the Port might make if it charged every plane a fee to land, which led to the question of how many planes land each year there. Confusion spread throughout the commission and staff, who eventually settled on letting the committee investigate those and other questions.

Source:  http://www.dailyastorian.com