AIREVAC

Another St. Clair based business is leaving town.  What is really sad about AirEvac leaving is that the city spent a lot of money to put Airevac on the field.  They built a hangar with publically donated and city funds.  This hangar came to about $22,000.    Then the city spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 to make airport improvements, in order for AirEvac to build its new maintenance facility.   If you add the $100 a month that it takes to provide free water and sewer services, add another $10,000.  (The $10,000, for water and sewer cost, has been put into to operating expenses of the airport, and has been subsidized by the fixed wing tenants.)

In nine years, the AirEvac Rent would be $32,000, about half of the city’s investment in the AirEvac Project. 

What happened to the idea that AirEvac was going to stay on site?  We will find a place for AirEvac in the city, no matter what the FAA says. 

The AirEvac project was put together before Blum, and would have eventually made a profit for the airport.   This was done with the thinking that AirEvac was here for the long term.  Now we are looking at a huge operating loss for the airport, due to mis-management by the city.  But what we are looking at is premeditated mismanagement by the city, just to satisfy Ron Blum’s personal vengeance against the airport.  

Without AirEvac's rent, and their only being five tenants, Ron Blum has finally after six years, sent the airport into the red.  

MILLIONS

According to an FAA official, the city has been informed with how much they would be required to pay back the Federal Government for the airport.  The FAA official that stated this, could not recall the exact number, but stated that he would find out what that number was, but it is in the MILLIONS.   The city has led the public to believe that they can sell the land for $550,000, and pay back the grant with the sale proceeds, and it is over. 

As soon as we find out the number the Feds have quoted, it will appear here.  This is the real situation, even if the McCaskill amendment were to pass, which does not seem likely, the city would have to come up with the difference between the appraised value, and what the Feds say the airport is worth.  No one would pay the Feds price for this property, so the city will be on the hook for the difference.  The appraisal has evidence of city influence, $6800 an acre, really!!  What is obvious here but not really surprising, is that the city thinks that no one would notice,  TEN YEARS AGO, a large parcel just down the interstate, maybe a mile, went for $8000 an acre on the same day it was listed.   Not a fair comparison????   We are looking at prime retail development property here, LOCATION-LOCATION-LOCATION.   What appears here is that someone is trying to influence the appraisal, thinking that the property would be easier to obtain if the appraised price were lower than market conditions.   The appraisal is really not the issue, the Feds will set the price.                       

AIRPORTS IN TROUBLE

Heard from johngalt57 today.  He said out blog was at the top of the list in the search engines.  We discussed airport issues and decided that a national organization to protect airports was an excellent idea.  We will be running this by AOPA, EAA, NBAA, and every aviation organization we can think of.   I think the response to the crooks that want to close airports, would be stronger if more than one airport at a time was voicing their problems.   Kind of like “MESS WITH ONE AIRPORT, YOU MESS WITH ALL OF THEM.”    Johngalt57 was telling how the local airport is run by a county commission, and they are using St. Clair as an example as how to close an airport.