Wednesday, December 10, 2003
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Wednesday, December 10, 2003 |
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Little drama at Savage’s final airport authority meeting By MICHAEL BOYLAN Though the airport authority had to discuss whether or not to accept an intergovernmental agreement with Peachtree City and go for the $355,000 loan to pay for the paving of Stallings Road, soon to be known as Aviation Way, and roof repairs on the Aviation Center, the biggest moment of the meeting came during airport manager Jim Savage’s monthly report. “As this is my last manager’s report, I have mixed feelings of pride and sadness, because I’m leaving the job unfinished,” said Savage in a brief statement to the authority and the audience gathered. “I believe that this is one of the best general aviation airports. As it moves forward, don’t lose sight of the basics that have made it that way, fair prices and service with a smile.” Savage then told the authority that he will soon be working for Wilbur Smith Associates, which works with other general aviation airports. One of Wilbur Smith’s clients is Falcon Field, so Savage could possibly be involved with Falcon Field in the future. At the end of his statement, several members of the audience and authority gave Savage a standing ovation. “I never supported this and I never will,” said authority member Doug Fisher, speaking of Savage’s forced retirement as airport manger. “Don’t worry, I’ll still come by and harass you from time to time,” said Savage. Authority member Jerry Cobb also expressed his thanks for Savage’s work as airport manager. Savage then gave the financial review where he announced the third consecutive record month for Falcon Field and a good start for December. The main item on the agenda was the consideration of the intergovernmental agreement with Peachtree City for the $355,000 loan. The extra $5,000 is for attorney’s fees. The reason this was a big issue at this meeting is because of the uncertainty of the hotel/motel tax, which the authority is planning on using to make their loan payments. Currently, the city is unsure if the vehicle they are using to give the money to the authority is legal. They are contractually obligated to give the authority that money, at least until September of 2004, so any money held from now until then, and most likely afterwards, would be placed in an escrow account and given to the authority when the appropriate vehicle was established. The uncertainty of the hotel/motel tax weighed heavily on members of the authority, but Chairman Cathy Nelmes encouraged the authority to accept the agreement and go for the loan. She was confident the hotel/motel tax issue would be resolved, also noting that they were still receiving the money currently, and that not going for the loan and delaying the specified projects would eliminate the locked in bid for the roof repairs and might jeopardize agreements the made with business on Stallings Road. In addition, according to the agreement, if the authority could not ever make their loan payment, after using all other sources, the city would make the payments. The likelihood of this happening is slim, but it did give the authority some security. In a unanimous decision, the authority decided to accept the intergovernmental agreement and go for the $355,000 loan with Peachtree National Bank. The loan payment on the $355,000 at a 4 percent fixed rate is $3,613.06 per month. According to the intergovernmental agreement with the city, the authority is supposed to receive 13.3 percent of the amount collected by the city each month. The authority has budgeted the average hotel/motel tax distribution to be $10,000 per month, with $8,333 of it being applied to capital improvements, which includes the loan payment. In the closing portion of the meeting, Fisher, a member of the search committee looking for Savage’s replacement, stated that there are 62 resumes of applicants for the search committee to go over. Savage commented that it appeared unlikely that a replacement would be in place by the end of the year. The committee hopes to have gone through the pile of resumes by the end of the month.
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