Airfield Appears to Be In Good Repair

This is from the MoDOT safety inspection that was done prior to the FAA suspending its consideration of the St. Clair closure request.  This was not done in response to the complaint filed by the tenants.  The remark “Airfield Appears to Be In Good Repair” refers to the airside portion of the development, which is everything on the runway side of the hold short line.  This does not refer to the landside portion of the airport property.  The one major item in the report, one of the very few, is the condition of the common use taxiway.  This taxiway is in horrible condition, and is causing damage to aircraft, for which the city is responsible.    

City financial records will show that no money has been spent on airport taxiway maintenance.  City financial records will also show that the city has not spent any money on the removal of trees from the approaches, which has been an item on three previous MoDOT inspections.

City financial records also show that approximately $70,000 to $80,000 of depreciation expense being charged to the airport.  The city was asked for the information on this, including the asset that was being depreciated, the date the asset was acquired, and the value of the asset.  The response was that they did not know, but it appeared that it was being charge towards a 1.6 million runway in the 90’s. 

The city financial records from the mid 90’s do not show any improvements made to the airport for 1.6 million dollars.  

The city financial records show that the city is charging the airport for %5 of the city insurance cost, when asked for the documentation to show this cost, the city stated that this documentation does not exist.