Despite airport items on
recent agendas, the Oakdale Mayor and City Council claim they were not
advised of an April complaint letter from the Federal Aviation
Administration and the city’s May 5 response letter. Some of the agenda
items approved by the council even included a quarterly street sweeping
contract and $16,000 lighting upgrade to bring the airport up to
standards addressed in the complaint.
“I was aware of Mr.
(William) Bradford’s concerns but not that any complaint or action had
been taken by the FAA,” said Councilman Don Petersen. “It wasn’t until I
saw your (Oakdale Leader July 30) article that I knew there was any
sort of letter, investigation, or that the city responded.”
On
Thursday, July 31, Petersen showed up at the Leader offices to inquire
about the airport article. He also asked to see the documents obtained
by the Leader which included the April 14 FAA letter and Oakdale City
Manager Bryan Whitemyer’s three-page response to four allegations that
the FAA asked for.
“I’ve never seen these and I don’t think they were ever made available to the council,” Petersen said.
Petersen
was appointed as the city council’s airport liaison to the airport
committee on April 21 after Councilman Mike Brennan stepped down due to
agitating comments made to tenants and what were perceived as threats to
airport committee members. He said at the time he assumed the duties,
he would have thought he would have been apprised of the FAA’s interest.
“I
want to make sure the airport functions are transparent and it is
operating transparently,” Petersen said. “I’m interested in the airport
and realize that it can be dangerous if things aren’t kept up.”
Part
of the FAA’s letter to the city regarding the complaint alleged that
the airport is poorly maintained which included worn out gates, major
tarmac damage and poor patching of the asphalt, and the existence of
unpaved areas. The FAA cautioned the city that if the issues existed and
were not corrected, the city would be in non-compliance of the grant
assurances.
“I agree that some of these things started a long
time ago, but that does not alleviate the condition to fix it,” Petersen
said. “Sometimes you have to get money to make it safe.”
Petersen
also examined documentation obtained which showed Sierra West Airlines
Vice President Kyra Robinson-Busam operating a real estate business
known as O27 Properties out of the Sierra West facility.
The FAA
informal complaint also had listed that the city was allowing Sierra
West Airlines the use of airport facilities for non-aeronautical
purposes.
“Technically, it looks like they’re in violation of FAA
rules,” Petersen said. “What can be done with it will be a topic of
personal involvement as I go forward.”
Other council members were just as much unaware.
“I
honestly don’t remember anything about this,” said Councilman Tom
Dunlop when contacted Thursday evening, July 31. “If it was mentioned it
may have been in passing and not mentioned with any seriousness.”
“I
didn’t know anything about it,” said Councilman Farrell Jackson. “It’s
(The letters) never been bought to our attention, openly or closed
session.”
“I would think maybe we would be made aware of
something like this,” Mayor Pat Paul said also on Thursday evening. “I
don’t know what happened or if Bryan (Whitemyer) dropped the ball.”
“It
was shared with the council,” said Whitemyer on Friday, Aug. 1 who was
away on vacation but contacted the Leader after messages regarding the
topic were left. “I told them about it in March and that it was minor in
nature.”
When informed that the FAA’s letter was dated in April,
Whitemyer said he reached out to FAA Airport Compliance Specialist
Robert Lee about some of Bradford’s concerns at that time and was
informed about an “informal complaint” and that a letter to the city was
pending. After he spoke to Lee is when Whitemyer said he advised the
council.
“I mentioned the informal complaint again to the council
in an activity report I sent the council in April as well,” Whitemyer
stated.
Whitemyer said because the complaint to the FAA was classified as “informal” he didn’t consider it all that serious.
“This
whole thing is a very minor issue in my mind,” Whitemyer said. “This is
not even an ‘investigation’ as you’re calling it. You’ve done two
articles now and its much ado about nothing.”
During his visit to the Leader, Petersen vocalized his commitment to the airport and making it a viable part of the community.
Petersen said he had visited Sonora’s airport and was impressed with their operation.
“With
appropriate attention, there’s no reason why Oakdale can’t be as
vibrant as them,” Petersen said. “With the little resources we have, we
still need someone to champion for our airport.”
- Source: http://www.oakdaleleader.com
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