Government in Darkness
A Bad Day for Martin County
Plane Facts
WAAM's Weekly Update
Tuesday May 27, 2003
Government in Darkness
A Bad Day for Martin County
Voted to Approve Subleases
Commissioner DiTerlizzi
Commissioner Smith
Commissioner Weberman
Voted to Deny Subleases
Commissioner Heard
Commissioner Valliere
It would be difficult for any reasonable person to find the rationale behind the majority vote which gave approval to three
airport subleases that came before the MCBCC today.
* A charter airline
* A flight school
* A jet sales company
After much discussion, it was determined that the Commission was being asked to vote on leases which contained
amendments that were not included in the lease packets provided to the Commissioners. When Stuart Jet Center was asked
to produce these missing documents, the request was refused. Stuart Jet Center implied that the contents of the amendments
are not the County's business, even though their leasehold is public property, owned by Martin County.
Commissioners DiTerlizzi, Smith and Weberman went forward to approve the subleases. Commissioners
Heard and Valliere, in an effort to bring reason to this issue, were unable to convince the majority that it might not be a good idea to
approve leases without the opportunity to see them in their entirety.
We are amazed to see our Commissioners make choices based on sketchy, incomplete data. Especially when it shows such a
careless disregard for many of the citizens they represent. Today's action tells us that some of these Commissioners only
represent themselves and special interest groups; in this case the airport business operators.
The one positive that has emerged from the discussion on these subleases is that Mr. Moon was told by Commissioners
DiTerlizzi, Heard, Valliere and Weberman, that they were concerned and uncomfortable with the implementation of a
portion of the Airport Minimum Standards Manual. It gives the Airport Director the discretion of allowing potential
subleases (at their own risk) to sign a lease and begin operating their businesses at the Airport prior to being approved by
the MCBCC. This practice directly contradicts the terms of the master leases between the County and the FBO's. Mr. Moon
agreed to review this policy and bring changes before the MCBCC.
This and other inconsistencies in the Airport leases, subleases, and in some cases, sub-subleases should warrant a thorough
audit by the County of all the lease agreements at the Martin County Airport.
WAAM, CCC and the public had written and submitted to the Commission in-depth reasons why these leases should not have
been approved. To read what WAAM and CCC had to say, click on these links:
http://www.waam.ws/Lease%20objections.htm
Airport Exploratory Study
* The Airport Exploratory Study time table has been posted. Go to this link to get the schedule:
http://www.martin.fl.us/GOVT/depts/mca/AES_schedule.pdf
(note - adobe reader must be installed on your computer to read these updates)
This Week
* WAAM representatives attended the new $260,000.00 Regional Noise Impact Study that got underway this past Thursday
- May 22 at the Ft. Pierce Administration Building. It became immediately obvious that the public and representatives of
community action groups had been excluded from this study, as not one member from either group had been chosen and was
sitting on the panel. Once again, the MEA group which was picked to be the consultant for this study, has shown their
complete disregard for public concerns and public input.
This study has been designed to help local airports in the Treasure Coast and bordering regions deal with noise and other
environmental issues affecting the public. To leave out the public as sitting voting members of this study group in
unconscionable.
* Information received from Martin County Airport staff members.
Nothing reported to WAAM this week.
Information and Updates section on the WAAM website.
* Read about the AOPA's ridiculous stand on Stage 1 and Stage 2 operations between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am at an airport in Minnesota. Go to - http://www.waam.ws and under the Information and Updates section, scroll almost down to the bottom of the page, or click here - AOPA on Noise
and
* Pilot Association Battles Aircraft Noise Restrictions at Airports
"Although these controversies often involve business jets, they are
precedent-setters," said Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president for regional affairs. "Today, the ban is on some jets or large aircraft. Tomorrow, it could well be Bonanzas."
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In a continuing effort to keep our membership informed on airport issues, WAAM publishes a quarterly newsletter, periodic email updates, notices in local newspapers, a bi-monthly newspaper feature called Plane Talk and a weekly email update called Plane Facts.
WAAM also maintains a website that covers airport issues in detail. You will find a wealth of information on our website. This is your website and we welcome any comments you might have to make it even better and more informative. The website has links to other sites to help you better understand the issues. You can also explore what other communities are doing to combat the growing problem of airport growth in cities throughout the United States. To visit the WAAM website, click on the link below.
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