DUMB AND DUMBER

Upon reviewing letters by MoDOT, the following statement by Mr. Childers, demonstrates the vastness of the lack of understanding of the airport and its operations.  He states;

Mr. Rick Childers

Page 4

December 21, 2012

In its response, the City stated that there was ‘no basis for comparison” between the fixed wing tenants and AirEvac LifeTeam. The City stated that AirEvac requires no runway access (although it is MoDOT and the FAA’s understanding that AirEvac uses the runway for its approach), provides its own landing lights, and requires no City maintenance activities, while the fixed wing tenants ‘have required and been the recipient of nearly all upgrades and expenses the City has ever undertaken at the airport.” The City stated that AirEvac provides a critical service which serves a community benefit, while the fixed wing tenants ‘provide no benefit to the community in any form”. The City noted that AirEvac was a business actively recruited by the City, while the fixed sing tenants do not conduct business, that AirEvac has a constant presence at the airport, which provides additional security, while the other tenants are only at the airport infrequently, and that fixed wing tenants’ leases are annual, while AirEvac has a five year lease, next due for renewal in 2015.

Lets look at this statement.

while the fixed wing tenants ‘have required and been the recipient of nearly all upgrades and expenses the City has ever undertaken at the airport.”

Let’s look again at the upgrades and expenses at the airport.  The Federal AIP Grant Cost the city somewhere around $27,900, to rebuild the runway and taxiway that Airevac also was required to use.  Over 20 years that comes to $1350 a year.   That is just about what it cost the city to provide water and sewer service to Airevac each year.  You can also look at it this way, in 05, and 06, the fixed wingers get a new runway; Airevac at twice the city investment, gets a toilet, and therefore should get a huge discount in rent. 

Airport improvements that benefit only Airevac, or were spent for Airevac, counting the road damage, comes to twice that, for 7 years, not twenty.  Somewhere around $5700 a year.  What kind of moron (or morons) would try to justify raising the fixed wing tenants rent and leaving Airevac static for ten years, when in fact Airevac has been the recipient of the majority of the improvements financed by the city, and then spew this crap to the Feds, and expect them to believe it. 

Another spew of intelligence (or severe lack of it) “while the fixed sing tenants do not conduct business,”.  I have to ask, How would he know this?  What is more important is this,  IT IS NONE OF HIS BUSINESS TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPE OF AERONAUTICAL ACTIVITIES.   OR FOR THAT MATTER WHERE THE FLIGHT BEGINS OR ENDS, AND WHERE THE PILOT’S PLACE OF RESIDENCY IS, NOR ANYONE ELSE'S BUSINESS AS FAR AS RESIDENCY IS CONCERNED.    

The FAA actually has a restriction when it comes to anything based on residency.   But of course only someone with maybe even a handful aviation knowledge could understand this.  But what do we have here?  In the form of aviation knowledge and how it pertains to the city; NONE, ZERO, NATA, NO EVEN A GLIMPSE, NOR EVEN A HINT OF WANTING TO KNOW ANYTHING.  ALL TOTAL BETWEEN THE FOUR ALDERMAN, ADMINISTRATORS, MAYOR, CONSULTANT,  OR REPORTER, NOT A CLUE OR THE DESIRE TO KNOW. 

When we tell other airport operators, the “And none of the pilots live in St. Clair,”  story, their eyes get big, and they ask, “Don’t they know…”, and when you know that is what is coming, you just shake your head no, and then their eyes close a little bit and they just go, “ ooooooo noooooo!!!!!!!!

I am getting a mental image here,  of Sam Walton when he came to the St. Clair  Airport, someone running up and squealing, what are you doing here, you don’t live in St. Clair. 

AND THEN:

Tell the Feds that if you don’t buy this crap, we are not going to fix the lights, windsock, washouts, or anything else, so then if some people die here, it will make it easier to close the airport. 

WHAT ELSE:

The lights are malfunctioning as we speak.  They have been on 24/7’s for over three or four months, during the darkest time of the year.  One would wonder why no one has noticed, or maybe they do, and just don’t care.  Maybe they want to spend the extra money that this is costing.   At this point its almost all city money anyway.