The mayor has stepped in to settle an internal disagreement over the La Crosse Regional Airport contracting with a private firm to handle some operations that include fire protection.
Airport Manager Clinton Torp said they decided to hire Pro-Tec Fire Services Ltd. of Green Bay while they re-evaluate staffing over the next year. The time seemed right, Torp said, as two of the four employees that did those regulatory and compliance duties have left for other positions.
Firefighting will make up only about 10 percent of what the two operations coordinators do at the airport, Torp said.
But the La Crosse Fire Department recently made its case that, with some training, it could do the work for less than the $185,000 Pro-Tec will receive.
Some members of the city’s Aviation Board also questioned the handling of the contract, contending it should come to the full council.
“I have had concerns with the process,” council member David Krump said, “and I have brought them up.” He cited a municipal code section that seems to require council action but conceded the city attorney has told him no rules were violated.
Torp maintains he had the authority to go forward with the contract, though he did get a majority of the Aviation Board’s support as well before hiring Pro-Tec. The vote was 3-2, with Krump and council member Andrea Richmond, who heads the board, in opposition.
Other airports in the state that use such private services include Green Bay, Appleton, Eau Claire-Chippewa Valley and the Central Wisconsin Airport near Mosinee, Torp said. The contract is paid with airport fee revenue, Torp added, and not tax money.
Fire Chief Gregg Cleveland deferred to the mayor’s office when contacted about the matter. Mayor Tim Kabat said Friday the contract is signed and it’s time for all to look ahead rather than continue to rehash the issue.
The contract is only for a year, allowing time to determine whether the fire department could fill that role in the future, Kabat said.
“My hope is that airport and fire can come together over the next year to make that happen,” the mayor said.
In other airport news, the facility will receive a Department of Transportation grant of $2,233,276 for its planned terminal renovations in 2015. That should reduce borrowing for the city capital improvement program budget from the original $10.5 million to $9.4 million, the mayor said.
- Source: http://lacrossetribune.com
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