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Possible airport sale to be addressed By TIM HIRSCH of the Sun
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en. Arnie Roblan and Rep. David Gomberg, together with Tillamook County Commissioners, will be hosting a panel dicussion Jan. 8, 5-7 p.m., at Kiawanda Community Center, in an effort to solicit community feedback on the possibility of the Oregon Department of Aviation selling Pacific City State Airport to a local citizen who has pledged to keep the airport open. At the meeting, Oregon Department of Aviation staff will be on hand to answer questions about the possibility of selling of the airport to the as yet undisclosed private individual in what ODA director Mitch Swecker told the Sun is an effort to not only keep the airport open but to improve the safety at the landing strip. “He’s an individual that has a house out there and wants the same things that the people concerned that the airport will still be open to the public want,” Swecker said about the possible buyer. Since the ODA voted on Oct. 19 to begin the process of going through the necessary hoops to sell the airport to a private individual, there has some vocal opposition to the effort — opposition that pointed to the fact that the effort has initially not had sufficient public input. Amongst those taking exception to the lack of transparency for the possible sale is part-time resident Robyn Holdman. She said that she would have liked to see ODA first reach out to the public before beginning the process of selling the airport. “(My message to ODA is) please don’t make a dsecision in your own little space,” she said. “You need to reach out to people and find out how they can help to mitigate the risk before you sell it.” She said she sees the meeting as a chance to rectify the lack of public input. “I think it’s a good opportunity for the state to really understand what the community’s wishes are,” Holdman said. “It’s for government to realize that to make good decisions you need to seek public input.” For his part, Swecker said that he hopes to address the community’s concerns as well as get public buy-in for the possible sale at the meeting, buy-in that he wants to get before proceeding with the process. “Really our goal is (to get) people (to) understand that the airport is not in jeopardy of closing,” he said. “Our idea of transferring (the airport) is that whatever transfer we do supports the pilot community and the local community.” Swecker said he also sees the idea
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of transferring the airport to a local landowner as a way airport safety could possibly be improved. He noted that the individual they are in discussions with may have more capability to be on site and be in position to enact a plan to make it a safer landing spot. “The reason we’re interested in transferring (the ownership) is because of the safety factor,” he added. “A private citizen may be able to do more with it.” Assuming ODA gets buy-in from the community, the next step will be to declare the property as surplus with the Department of Administrative Services, a process that Pacific City State Airport manager Matt Moss describes as one that is there to make sure any transfer meets all state laws and rules. As well, the statement of surplus is required to be publically posted for 30 days before action is taken. “We’re still early enough in the process that there’s plenty of opportunity for people to discuss (the airport’s future),” Swecker said. ODA’s recent concerns on the safety of the airport dates back to 2012, when the agency held a public meeting in Pacific City addressing the fact that the airport, which the ODA has owned and operated since 1951, was on the list of those being seriously looked at. As reported in the Nov 2, 2012 issue of the Sun, Swecker previously described ODA’s look into the long-term feasibility of keeping the airport open as “very preliminary,” adding that the department wanted to talk to stakeholders involved to examine any ramifications of closing it — including its value to emergency services, firefighters and a potential site for helicopters to stage from in the aftermath of a tsunami. At that time, Swecker said that if the department were to sell, as it is considering doing now, that wouldn’t necessarily mean it would close. In fact, as reported in the Nov. 11, 2017 issue of the Sun, the deed for the airport is deed restricted to only be used as an airport, a restriction that would continue in any sale to a private citizen. “It’s all about having dialogue with the local community and the aviation community,” said Swecker in a 2012 interview with the Sun. “We’ll certainly work with the public and the stakeholders and (Tillamook) County. We’ll involve all of them and be open and transparent. We serve the constituents of the state, so we don’t want to do anything without input from them.” And that’s a promise that Holdman says she’ll hold the ODA to. “If people decide that private ownership is in best interest of community, then so be it,” she said. “I just want to make sure it’s a transparent and inclusive process and respectful.”
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