THE LEADING LADY

Some people from the army air cops of WWII reading the Leading Lady post.  I did not get to copy all of the Diary, and have some of the missions that I have not posted yet.  The diary is still available, and could get the rest of the missions.  If anyone has an interest, use the contacdt form on the rig

LOST REVENUE

The following is from the FAA rule book, page 22-19, if anyone wants to look it up.

“The nonaviation interest of the sponsor or the local community does not constitute an airport benefit that can be considered in justifying a release and disposal.”

What does this mean?  It means that you cannot close an airport to build a shopping center, no matter what the citizens of the community believe or want.  The citizens’ tax money does not fund the AIP, airport users do.  If you live in St. Clair and don’t fly, you do not support the system.

But wait, isn’t the city subsidizing the airport? 

It is now, and whose fault is that?  The users don’t run it.  The city council operates the airport, and it is the fault of the city council that the taxpayers of St. Clair have to subsidize the airport.

There are many solutions to the St. Clair Airport problem, many of which do not include closing it. 

There is only one solution that interest Ron Blum, and that is closure. 

Look at it in another way, this has been going on for eight years or so and looks like it will go one for many, many more.  Ron Blum told everyone the city will make $2,000,000 a year from a shopping center.  The City has lost $16,000,000 in sales tax dollars trying to close the airport for the nonaviation interest of the sponsor or the local community, and will lose another 30 or 40 million trying to do what Ron Blum wants.

 It would cost the City $2,000,000 to build another airport, and if the city would have chosen the correct way of doing this, in two years from now, the new airport would open and Ron Blum could close the old one, or build his shopping center, or whatever he has promised.

Here’s the catch, why would someone look at these numbers and not jump at the chance to build a new airport in the center of Franklin County, and build a development around it.  The $2,000,000 is nothing compared to the 30 or 40 million the city is going to lose trying to do the impossible. And now the city is looking at spending a lot more money to make the airport compliant.  The catch is that there is no $2,000,000 a year in sales tax, never was, and never will be.  That is why Ron Blum will not take the easy solution to this problem.  If Ron Blum would have read the rule book before he spouted off about the $2,000,000 a year shopping center, he would not be in the situation he is in now.  He can’t come up with another reason in the middle of the game. 

A segment on CBS Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, reported that 50% of the retail shopping malls in this country will close in the next ten years.  No One in their right mind believes that there is going to be a Chesterfield like Mall in St. Clair, or that there ever was.    

NOT IN VIOLATION??????????

A local newspaper has reported that the city is not in violation of its FAA grant assurances. 

The city was not found in violation of several grant assurances that pertained to the complaint on the T-hangar lease.  Because the city did not evict the tenants, and the fact that the FAA stepped in when the city raised the rent to $300 per month, and a lease was agreed upon, the FAA dismissed the case.  After almost 11 months of attempting to get the city to negotiate, the city caved in to pressure from the FAA.

The city is in violation of many of the grant assurances, on many issues.  The complaints have not been filed yet.  The FAA when asked how many issues could be included in one complaint, they responded with, Try and keep it below ten for any one complaint.   

The city also claimed that they were not in violation of the grant assurances, and then made restitution to  the airport thousands of dollars of diverted revenue. 

Apparently the city is under the opinion that the FAA will make a decision on their closure request because the first complaint is determined.  If you read the Jim Johnson letter;

 “, the Agency will not consider closing St. Clair Regional Airport, as the city requested several months ago, until the city corrects deficiencies at the airport.”  ….. Again, the FAA has placed the City’s request for closure on hold. Future discussions will be limited to issues related to the City completing the steps detailed in this letter, including correcting the known safety violations at the airport, adequately addressing your outstanding Part 16 and Part 13 compliance complaints and completing an acceptable corrective plan related to the OIG Hotline complaint.

Should you require clarification, please contact meat 816-329-2601.
Sincerely,
Johnson
Manager, Airports Division

After the issues of compliance are settled, then the FAA will restart to CONSIDER” consider the closure request.  There is still an informal part 13 issue still being adjudicated by MoDOT, with no movement for over a year.  

AIRPORT MONEY

As usual the city has publically demonstrated what little it knows about aviation and the FAA.  Why do they call it entitlement funding?  Because the airport is entitled to the funds, and these funds are guaranteed despite what the city is trying to get the public to believe.  Mr. Childers is either uneducated in these maters or he is lying about the ENTITLEMENT FUNDS.   Most people will probably go with lying. 

Back in 2012 the Feds made a comment about the way St. Clair operates its airport.

In light of the FAA’s concerns about the City’s apparent unwillingness to maintain St. Clair Regional Airport available as a usable airport, the Agency will not consider closing St. Clair Regional Airport, as the city requested several months ago, until the city corrects deficiencies at the airport.

What did MoDOT actually state? 

The city states

DESIGN DEFICIENCIES:
We do not have the ability or resources to correct deficiencies in design which were presumably approved at some point in the past.
Please contact me at your convenience to schedule a site visit regarding items 10 and 12, and if you have questions regarding the above. Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
Rick Childers
City Administrator

The city cannot fix the airport because they don’t have any money, but they give the entitlement money back to MoDOT.