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Airport Study Group Debates Depth Of Research Charge
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
03:35AM / Wednesday, May 18, 2016
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The study group still needs to come to terms with how far it will go into the study.


Councilors Christopher Connell and Melissa Mazzeo feel the work is far from complete but others think it is almost done.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The citizen group studying the airport spent its meeting Monday hotly debating just how in-depth its analysis should be.

The group was formed after three city councilors petitioned the mayor to do a cost-benefit of the municipal airport.
 
The intent of the councilors was to look at all options of management and operations. The city currently spends $100,000 or so each year to supplement the airport.
 
However, the mayor's formation of the group put a timeline on the process, ending it on May 15, and the mayor hasn't authorized the spending of legal representation time — a resource the councilors feel they need to complete the task. 
 
On Monday, Chairman Thomas Sakshaug and former City Councilor Jonathan Lothrop argued that the group's work is done and that any specific changes at the airport need to be done by those administrators in charge. But Sakshaug did say the mayor extended the timeline.
 
For example, the two said the group can recommend that raising fees but exactly what the prices would be is up to the Airport Commission.
 
"In my mind, we are pretty close to having the majority of that answered," Lothrop said.
 
Lothrop said the group has tracked down exactly what the costs are and what the expenses are, as well as identifying revenue opportunities. He believes going beyond that and calling for specific changes would be stepping on the toes of other administrative bodies.
 
Councilors Melissa Mazzeo and Christopher Connell, however, say their intent in filing the original petition was to do just that and more. They said they want to understand every detail of the costs and opportunities as well as considering whether or not a private company or the state would be better off running it.
 
"If you want to hurry and get this over and done with, that is the will of this committee. All we are asking for is numbers," Connell said. "It seems like there is this feeling that we just want to get this over and done with."
 
When it comes to the fees, Connell said the Airport Commission should report to the study group about setting fees and the expected outcomes in air traffic and revenues by doing so. Connell said he hasn't been able to compare the fees to other airports.
 
Connell and Mazzeo are also calling on City Solicitor Richard Dohoney to provide research on the leases on the property, including the seven at Westwood Center.
 
Connell and Mazzeo said they would like to know if those leases are still legal, who has them, and who is subletting the properties, questions that are still unclear. Connell suggested that some of those leases are expired or illegal, and the city could seek renegotiation.
 
Dohoney met with Mayor Linda Tyer and Sakshaug privately before the meeting and said ultimately the agreement was that the research should be referred to the mayor's office because it is an administrative task. It would then be up to the mayor to decide whether or not to hire legal representation and whether or not to seek a new agreement with those companies.
 
"This sounds like a really good idea. This is the type of work you should be recommending the mayor does with her staff," Dohoney said, agreeing that the sorting of leases is something outside of the purview of the study group.
 
The attorney said the work entails much more than researching deeds and leases but also requires delivering opinions on whether or not the lack of a signed document has the legal standing to negate three decades of a company owning a building on the land.
 
The Westwood land leases have been the main subject of conversation among the body and there is still isn't a resolution on where that $20,000 of income should go — currently it is split 85/15 with the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp. and the Airport Commission. 
 
"How can you realistically do a cost-benefit analysis if you don't know if that income is supposed to come here or to PERC? $17,000 is 17 percent of the loss every year," Connell said. 
 
But others on the committee say it isn't in their purview to do that. The group found the issue and now it is up the mayor's office or the Airport Commission to resolve it. The study groups recommendation is to resolve the conflict in those leases.
 
Airport Commission Chairman Chris Pedersen was already working with Airport Manager Robert Snuck on figuring out the Westwood leases prior to the study group's first meeting. The issue hadn't been presented before because Pedersen was under the impression that the money from the leases went to the city and it was only when Snuck came on as the new airport manager that it was determined the money was going to the non-profit PERC. 
 
"FAA needs to come down and say this is what you can or can't do," Pedersen said.
 
Pedersen and Mazzeo went somewhat head to head on that issue, snapping at each other over roles.
 
Mazzeo said the issue with the leases was discovered within just a few months of the group being formed while Pedersen had gone years without looking into it. Pedersen snapped back, saying they were already looking into it and brought it to the study committee when it was formed. He added that Mazzeo hadn't bothered to talk to the Airport Commission about the questions she had that had led to the formation of the group.
 
"It all comes back to the Airport Commission," Pedersen said. "Don't you think the first place you'd go would be to the person in charge of the Airport Commission?"
 
Snuck added that when it comes to landing, fuel, and tie-down fees, those are looked at and considered all the time. Michael Lyon, of fixed-based operator Lyon Aviation, said the fees are currently "somewhere in the middle" in comparison to other airports. But, the facilities are "in the bottom 10 percent." 
 
"If you are going to substantially raise fees, you need to invest," Lyon said.
 

Jonathan Lothrop feels the group has identified areas for management changes and the recommendations should be that those changes be considered by the administrative offices in charge.
Lyon said fees can go higher with more demand, and the better the airport, the more people will want to land there. 
 
In a few years, the Federal Aviation Agency will be rebuilding the terminal, which will make the airport more desirable. But, Lyon said in the past when there were opportunities to grow the airport, the city had balked at the investment. 
 
Pedersen said the FAA had grants available a few years ago available to build hangars and there is a demand for hangar space at the airport. The hangars would boost annual revenues significantly but when the FAA funds were there, the city wasn't willing to do it.
 
Snuck said the airport has four hangar spaces now and three of them are "a disgrace" and that he wouldn't trust storing an airplane in them. The other is only leased for $300 a month. If the city built new hangars, there would be more income every year coming back to the Airport Commission.
 
"When the pocketbook is open, you have to be able to reach in there and know when to reach in there," Snuck said.
 
Of course, that led Connell and Mazzeo to question whether or not a private entity would be willing to put up the money to build one and earn the profit. But, Pedersen said that would lead to few dollars coming back to the city because it would only be a ground lease and the private entity would reap most of the benefit.
 
Also not discussed was the items Snuck and the Airport Commission are currently working on — including a solar field project which would flip the script completely around to where the airport is bringing in more money than the city is allocating each year. 
 
"That takes care of a lot of problems at the airport," Snuck said.
 
Further, this year Snuck said he's closed the gap by more than 10 percent.
 
"I've gone down to every single penny where I can raise income and our income is up $13,000 to $14,000 over last year," Snuck said.
 
He added the other benefits include a new project with high school students who are building an aircraft in donated hangar space and working with a car club to bring car shows to the property. Snuck asked for the next meeting to include a period for him to tell committee about those.
 
"We're doing things for the airport and we are doing things for the community," Snuck said.
 
When it comes to the big picture, Snuck and Pedersen say they want the airport to grow to become more financially viable. What is needed to do that hasn't been discussed by the group nor has the option of shrinking city control to the point of even having an outside entity take it over.
 
"We haven't gone through everything we wanted to look at. We haven't looked at other communities that have handed off their airport to X,Y, or Z," Mazzeo said.
 
Connell said the group should meet after the Airport Commission decides on the fees and after the FAA weighs in on the Westwood leases, after airport officials lay out their desires to grow it, and after the research into the leases are completed to discussion the viability of the airport under its current operation. Then, the group can compare it to other ownership options.
 
"I think we have a long way to go," Mazzeo said.
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