I went to the meeting.
Dick Lochner gave a short talk on the history of Birchwood Airport that was very interesting and informative. The one thing to note from his talk is the constant is change. I will cover as much as I can but there are still a lot of questions that the Birchwood Airport Association is trying to get a clear answer on. Below are some facts as best we know them.
1. This is not a land sale. It is transfer of Sponsorship of the airport management from AK DOT. This has been done at several airports Palmer, Wasilla, and Kenai to name a few.
2. The Airport will stay an airport. Lots of federal grant money will keep it that way. The FAA will still be top dog no matter who the sponsor of the Airport is.
3. Eklutna Native Corporation is looking at the feasibility of becoming the sponsor but still gathering data
4. The city of Anchorage has been approached in the past to be the sponsor and turned it down.
5. One sponsorship of an Airport is granted to an organization, there is no time limit, they will always be the sponsor as long as they comply with FAA rules.
6. AOPA and Alaska Airman's Association have been contacted and are aware of the issue.
7. Association officers have met with both DOT and Eklutna management.
Several good questions where raised last night.
1. Why does DOT not want to be sponsor of Birchwood Airport? Several sources have stated we are one of the few airports in the state that carry our own or make money for the state.
2. Efforts to get hard money numbers (grants, lot lease, etc) have not been very productive so far. Working on that.
3. What happens when towns sponsor airports. (in all cases listed above lease rates increased quickly).
4. This is by no means a done deal. Talking stages only.
5. If DOT is set on some other entity sponsoring Birchwood would the city of Anchorage be a good choice?
6. Several members stated they would contact their state representatives on this matter. At this time the Association officers will continue to sort this out before further action on the part of the association is taken.
6. Association officers are going to meetings, working hard to get the FACTS!! They will pass them along through E-mail. We will have another meeting when more solid information is gotten or membership guidance on action is needed. The Association has a webpage
http://cer.org/m/listing/view/thefarrells3 Join.
This is the basic info, hope I got it right I will have Tim look at it and correct any mistakes.
DENNY