PTC’s beef with Chick-fil-A: ‘Keep your chicken planes out of our airport’

Tue, 03/13/2007 - 4:43pm
By: John Munford

No big money fees, no big chick for Falcon Field.

The Peachtree City Airport Authority has declined to approve the transfer of an airport access agreement that would allow Chick-fil-A’s corporate jets to relocate to a building adjacent to Falcon Field.

But landing the big bird is still a possibility, according to Airport Manager John Crosby.

Hunting Aviation, which owns a mothballed building adjacent to the airport, wanted the authority to transfer the agreement to Chick-fil-A, which is offering to buy the property. The authority voted unanimously Thursday night to deny transfer of the agreement, but Crosby indicated Monday that the authority is reaching out to Chick-fil-A officials in an attempt to broker a deal.

Authority attorney Simon Bloom said Monday that the existing “through the fence” agreement for Hunting would provide no revenue for the authority based on Chick-fil-A’s current plans to use the property. Under Georgia case law, that change is enough to allow such contracts to be denied reassignment “as a commercially valid reason,” Bloom said.

Hunting attorney David Monde disagreed with Bloom’s assessment, saying that the authority would receive a 5 cent per gallon fee for any fuel purchased by Chick-fil-A as called for in the existing Hunting contract. Although Chick-fil-A will not be running an aircraft repair facility such as Hunting formerly operated, the facility has enough room for Chick-fil-A to lease space to another business that could generate more revenue for the airport, Monde said.

Monde said it is not clear yet if Hunting will file a lawsuit or if Hunting and Chick-fil-A will continue to negotiate with the airport authority. Monde said Hunting and Chick-fil-A would agree to increase the fees in the contract somewhat “but not at the exorbitant rates being demanded by the airport authority.”

Because Hunting has not provided any revenue for seven years under the existing agreement, the authority could possibly consider the agreement to be in default status, Bloom noted.

Bloom recalled that airport authority member Doug Fisher said in Thursday’s meeting that he couldn’t support assigning the current Hunting deal to Chick-fil-A because the Federal Aviation Administration frowns on airports giving better deals to off-airport property owners compared to those who lease property on the airport grounds. There is some concern that if the current access agreement is given to Chick-fil-A, it could endanger past and present federal aviation grants, Bloom said.

The authority has relied on such grants to acquire a significant amount of property in the past several years, and the airport is also seeking a grant to locate an instrument landing system so planes can land even when inclement weather exists.

Bloom said the authority has negotiated with Chick-fil-A in good faith, but any time progress is made the company’s attorneys have thwarted the progress.

Monde contends that the authority has not negotiated in good faith because it refuses to honor the reassignment option in the existing contract with Hunting.

A lawsuit filed against the authority by Hunting over a similar dispute over another potential property buyer is still pending in Fayette County Superior Court.

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bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 9:37am.

What do we the taxpayers get from an operation that has a net operating loss of $660,000 a year, for at least the last two years?

They now get 20% of the hotel/motel tax that's some $135,000/yr that could be used for something meaningful.

Heck, at the rate they loose money we could buy a new Tennis center every three years.

If you try and attempt the old argument that they attract business into our city, try something different. We haven't had any new businesses with corporate jets build anything here in a while.

Even if we had had some new blood come into the area, did we get $660,000 out of them a year, NOT!


Submitted by wheeljc on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 8:11am.

How many Peachtree City Policemen or Fireman would $660,000 fund for a year? Did we hear that Peachtree City was having difficulty attracting policemen to 'serve and protect'?

Can see that members of THE AUTHORITY also have the skill of prioritization among their skill sets!!!!!

Who has overwatch authority over THE AUTHORITY, and who does this individual or group report to?

Just sounds like there is a group of good ole boys, or Bertha Better than You's running amok without adult supervision -- and obligating tax payer's money without
the ability to comprehend the consequences.

SAD!

Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 1:38pm.

Nine is about the answer as to how many it would fund for a year ($600,000).
Who then will pay for year two, three, four, adinfinitim......

bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 3:41pm.

The same people that have been paying year after year for the Airport Authority, we the people.

Who do you think has been paying for it since 1987?

The difference being that we'll actually have something to show for it other than a private boy's club.


Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 6:27pm.

Why the big lawyer fees to fight Hunting and Chic filet? Isn't the airport authority's lawyer the same one who was the Development "Authority's (Tennis Center) lawyer?
What does he do?

Submitted by wheeljc on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 10:12am.

Here we have one of the greatest corporate citizens in at least the Souheast -- if not the Nation -- not being good enough for the self important 'airport authority'?? No wonder we see an increasing number of vacant homes and buildings around the City.

What far thinkers we have. Know they are just so proud of their demonstrated incompetence!!!

Hope that they have the ability to comprehend that others see -- from a distance --
their sophomoric actions, and when crunch time comes folks, REMEMBER THE NAMES OF MEMBERS OF THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY.

PS: If it rains tomorrow, please tell the members of the authority to stay inside. Thanks

mudcat's picture
Submitted by mudcat on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 6:49pm.

These are the same people that rejected Hollis Harris' application to be a member of the airport authority. Can't remember the reason they gave, but the real reason is that they have their little bit of turf and power and don't want to give it up. What morons they are.

If those jerks keep it up, Chick-fil-A will pull out of PTC and we will have to eat beef.
meow


cowtipn's picture
Submitted by cowtipn on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 2:35pm.

Would somebody with time post the names and/or e-mail addresses of the Airport Authority?
Thank you.


Submitted by David Monde on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 4:08pm.

Cowtipn, I don't have all of their emails, but any concerned citizen may contact Authority Chairman, Jerry Cobb, and Authority member Doug Fisher, and Airport manager, John Crosby, at the following email addresses:

Jerry Cobb: jerrycobb@mindspring.com, John Crosby: johncrosby@kffc.org, Douglas A. Fisher: surfkansas@comcast.net

They can give you the email addresses of the other Authority members.

David Monde
Attorney for Hunting Aircraft

Cal Beverly's picture
Submitted by Cal Beverly on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 3:56pm.

Per your request, taken from the Falcon Field website:

Airport Authority members:
Jerry R. Cobb, Chairman
Douglas A. Fisher, Secretary/Treasurer
Matt M. Davis, Member
Douglas A. Fisher, Member
Greg Carroll, Member
Rick Mendenhall, Member
Douglas B. Warner, Attorney

Airport Managers:
John Crosby, Airport Manager
Andrew Bolton, Assistant Manager

-------

From the PTC city website:

Peachtree City Falcon Field is an active and growing airport facility that serves Peachtree City’s vita business community, as well as the many recreational enthusiasts. The 5220' runway accommodates aircraft up to 60,000 pounds.

Features

The facility also features a playground and covered picnic area where area enthusiasts can enjoy watching aircraft take-off and land. Peachtree City-Falcon Field hosts several aviation events throughout the year, including the Great Georgia Air Show.

Peachtree City Airport Authority

The Airport Authority is a separate governmental agency that owns and operates Peachtree City Falcon Field Airport.

The five-member board meets on the second Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m., at the Aviation Center, 7 Falcon Drive.

The Chairman of the Airport Authority also serves on the Fayette County Development Authority.

Volunteer!

To serve on the Airport Authority, applicants must have lived in Peachtree City for at least 6 months. The Mayor and Council appoint Airport Authority members to 5-year terms. Volunteer applications will be accepted again in late Fall 2007.

Falcon Field Airport

7 Falcon Drive, Peachtree City, GA 30269

Phone: 770-487-2225 Fax: 770-487-8814 Head: John Crosby, Airport Manager

FBO Hours: Daily 7:00a.m. – 9:00p.m.


KraftyFla's picture
Submitted by KraftyFla on Sat, 03/17/2007 - 4:23pm.

What do the PTC Tennis Center and the Airport Authority have in common? Special insider deals on business and perks; unprofitable operations that can’t make it in the business world; taxpayers will need to bail both of them out; open meetings violations; common members like Lawyer Doug Warner. And people in PTC keep letting this happen again and again why ?


cowtipn's picture
Submitted by cowtipn on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 12:50pm.

Smiling


Spear Road Guy's picture
Submitted by Spear Road Guy on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 8:21am.

This is the same guy who participated in the development authority scam. Any more questions on why thing are going sour at the airport authority?

Vote Republican


secret squirrel's picture
Submitted by secret squirrel on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 10:01am.

What good is having the Airport Authority?

Well, it gave Harold Logsdon a place to put his campaign manager in a job as a reward.


mudcat's picture
Submitted by mudcat on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 6:37pm.

Was Crosby Logsdon's campaign manager? Who are you talking about?
meow


Submitted by McDonoughDawg on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 12:49pm.

Smiling

cowtipn's picture
Submitted by cowtipn on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 9:18am.

It's the audacity that astounds me.


Submitted by David Monde on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 4:16pm.

Cowtipn, it might also astound you to know that the Authority spent over $80,000 of the public's money just to fight up to the Georgia Supreme Court - - and lose - - over whether they had to treat Hunting with good faith and fair dealing in considering the assignment request. Now, they have spent tens of thousands more in taxpayer funds to fight Chick-fil-A's effort to join the airport community. Do the citizens of Peachtree City think this is a wise use of funds?

David Monde
Attorney for Hunting Aircraft

Submitted by hello_again on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 8:18am.

The Authority has a valuable contract with Hunting. It allows Hunting to sell fuel at a specified price. Hunting can transfer the building without the fuel deal.....however the deal is SOOO good (read bad for PTC Airport) that you found it worth suing the Authority to keep that value. Why not agree to pay a reasonable rate? Hunting wants to keep a favorable contract in their favor, even when they sell the building. The Authority has the ability to decline the transfer.

Good for them, get the fuel rate at a fair price/agreement.

Chick-fil-A is a great company (I do not work there, but know lots of people there). BUT for some reason, they are quietly behind the scene as the potential buyer directing that they want to have the sweetheart deal that Hunting had transferred to them.

So explain who is doing right:
Authority - trying to protect the value of the Airport by terminating a contract that has fuel sales at a price that is upside down from the market reality
Hunting - who is trying to use the public (look at the waste of tax dollars) to try to present themselves as the good guys, when they want to take their contract and transfer a valuable contract (at more $$$$ in their pocket --- at taxpayer expense!)
Chick-fil-A - love them, but they are staying quiet and their intent can be seen through the ongoing action of Hunting.

This one contract seems to be valuable enough to hold up a purchase of a building! Authority, take your time and negotiate to retain the value of PTC selling the fuel....surprisingly fuel is a substantial amount of the income to the Airport Authority.

I want my taxes low, but that is not achieved by continuing a hand-out to Hunting and Chick-fil-A.

Goodbye

bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 11:14am.

Hunting's deal was inked back in 1991 and it is the only such deal that allows it to have direct access to the airport and sell fuel.

What you forgot to mention is that Hunting's deal requires them to pay the Airport Authority .05 for every gallon of fuel they sell.

Now the Airport Authority wants to "renegotiate" that deal because Airport Authority sees lots of unearned "FREE" cash they can get their hands on.

In simple English the Airport Authority made a good deal back in 1991 but now it's 2007. The Airport Authority is now trying to force Hunting out so that it can keep it's fuel sales monopoly plain and simple. Hunting hasn't sold a drop of fuel in years.

Whats so ludicrous about this whole thing is that the Airport Authority is LOOSING about $660,000/yr. It's a money pit!

Where boats commonly refereed to as "a hole in the water into which one pours money" the Airport Authority should be called "a hole in the ground into which one pours our tax money".

I must say that I was extremely impressed with the information on the Airport Authority WEB site that stated, "In 1987, the airport was acquired by the Peachtree City Airport Authority. Since then, the airport has grown from having 60 based aircraft to about 165".

They've managed to add a whopping 3.5 aircraft a year in 30 years.

How long do you supposed it will be before they break even?


Submitted by hello_again on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 2:36pm.

In 91, the AA agreed to give concessions to Hunting, gets them in adds a building, adds employment, adds planes.....Hunting vacates the building later, assuming they vacated the employment and the planes (as you said they have not sold a drop of fuel).

Now Hunting (who is no longer a big provider of tax revenues to the City, much less any value to the AA) has an opportunity to sell their building BUT they need to have the '91 gas prices, in order to have the deal sweet enough.

Why do you want the AA to not push to get the best value for PTC? They made a deal in 91 giving good consideration. Now you want to sweeten Hunting's pockets by allowing them to transfer the fuel deal? If AA can eliminate the fuel deal, they will get more money (ie decreasing the $660k loss). I am not here to debate the value of the airport.....simply to argue the thread of Hunting and Monde are just ticked off, because the AA has the strength to tell Hunting NO.

If Hunting wants to sell the building, they should make life easy and less money to Mr. Monde, by forecasting the fuel sales ChickfilA would make and give them that in discount on the building sale. THEN Monde and the City attorney get cut out and both entities save thousands....and Hunting is finally gone from PTC Airport.

Of course, next post will be from Monde of the value of legal action. Hogwash, attorneys get in the way of business. If Chick fil A and the AA would sit down together I bet they could work out a reasonable deal. But the attorneys would be upset.

Goodbye

bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 4:15pm.

Just to make this easy I’ll use last year’s fuel sales as reported by the Airport Authority.

Total fuel sales: $1,238,309
@ $3.50/gal. 353,802 gals.
(3.50/gal. is being very generous. Newnan charges $4.00+/gal.)

Now for argument sake let’s say that Hunting was still in business and sold 10% of the airports total fuel sales.

If you have a more accurate percentage, please share it with us.

10% of 353,802 gals. = 35,380 gals.

@ .05/gal that’s $1,769.

Now to the fun part. $1,769 of $660,000 is .00268%.

That doesn’t seem like a very large number to me. It’s certainly not worth spending $90,000 to $100,000, taxpayer money, to defend and not win.

I understand that the Airport Authority would rather continue their monopoly but competition tends to keeps people honest.

P.S. Hunting was paying for the fuel with "real" money, not money collected via taxes.

P.P.S. Next year the Airport Authorities losses will have to show the $90,000 - $100,000 so it should be somewhere around a net loss of $750,000.

What a deal!


Submitted by hello_again on Fri, 03/16/2007 - 7:43am.

Taking your estimates....Hunting buys the gas for $0.05 and they were selling/using it at $3.50. A profit the AA was losing of $3.45/gallon.

35,380g * $3.45/g = $122,061 in revenue lost to Hunting sales or in the future Chickfila sales lost. So we can cut the losses by 20% by fixing this one contract.

Competition is good. If you ask a local flyer....some of them buy their fuel in Henry County because it is cheaper. That is the AA competition. They are competing with other airports. They should not have to compete with Hunting trying to extend their sweetheart deal.

For people who do not like the Good ol boy network, why are you so adamant to continue a handout for Hunting? Why give them so much value off our backs ($122k/yr) to enhance their building sale?

Goodbye

bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Fri, 03/16/2007 - 4:09pm.

hello_again, my calculations were showing the total "profit" that Hunting was responsible for, not the acquisition costs.

In this particular scenario the acquisition costs aren't applicable. The AA would have similar acquisition costs and not figure in the .05%/gal.

The net result is that the AA is a ole Boy's club without a doubt.

I checked the cost of fuel at Newnan last night, 4.50/gal. The PTC AA is a give-a-way program. The rest of us call it welfare.

Five old guys playing pinnacle ever afternoon doesn't count as a benefit to the city/taxpayers.

Planes with a magneto haven't been in demand since the early 1920's.


Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Fri, 03/16/2007 - 1:37pm.

I do believe that the schools quit teaching math, reading, and writing years ago! A nickel a gallon gas?????????
Which might have been an understandable mistake, but you then used it to calculate the income!
This kind of business acumen is from the Delta, Sub-Prime bank lender, IRS, Enron, schools of business planning------never net any profit------make a few rich and then soak the rest.
Another good example is a restaurant opening with 8 tables, seating an average of 2-4 each usually, with an overhead to begin with that is twice what that many tables can turn for lunch and dinner!
They can't calculate overhead and they can'r calculate turnover, even if they fill up! They are good cooks though.
Who owns "HUNTING" by the way?

hutch866's picture
Submitted by hutch866 on Fri, 03/16/2007 - 11:16am.

He didn't say they bought the gas for a nickel, he said they gave the authority a nickle for every gallon sold, or at least that's how I read it.


bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 5:18pm.

Chic-fil-A made more money in 42 minuets then the Airport Authority lost in an entire year.

Who would you rather have running things?


Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 4:06pm.

An empty building sits near the airport with possible access to the airport, if granted. The owners of the building have a very long contract (obviously over 16 years) with the Authority to sell fuel if they give the airport .05 cents per gallon sold. I don't guess they ever did sell any fuel for some reason.
I suppose the airport sells the fuel directly.
Now Chic-fil-A wants the building from the contract holder but also wants the gas selling agreement. I don't know why. I assume they would lease that operation to a contractor. Does that then mean the airport would NOT sell gas direct and make no money except the .05 cents from Chic-fil-A?
One would think that in a straight deal, the airport authority would look upon getting Chick-fil-As jets here as a definite plus to the authority and peachtree city's taxpayers.
Why has the building set empty for so long. Why did the contract holder build it in the first place, or did we build it?
Why is the contract still good if they didn't sell gas?
I suggest the authority do the same thing they did with the Tennis Center: buy the building at whatever price they want for it, lease or sell it to Chic-fil-A, and either keep pumping their own gas or let Chic-fil-A pump the gas. The taxpayers can pay for it since maybe we could reduce the $600,000 annual loss with the .05. (how many gallons is that?) Maybe, some "Wings" restaurant would also come in!
Do we get $600,000 worth of value in taxes (the yearly losses) out of the authority? How?
The Tennis Center helped to sell some houses in a bad area for a developer in any case. There must be a master plan for all this somewhere! I hope not another Tennis Center where the developer sells the houses and PTC pays for the Tennis Center.

Git Real's picture
Submitted by Git Real on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 11:26am.

Thanks Bad. You do a great job of laying out factual information regarding many local issues regarding local political and development issues that impact us regionally. Thanks man. To that degree you are definitely one of the better posters on the board. I still think Basmati has you beat by a mile though when it comes to the etiquette, personality and tact department. Eye-wink Oh...and he's certainly a better speller too!

Hey! Can you change the avatar. I know it's not, but you look like a blob of afterbirth. Smiling


cowtipn's picture
Submitted by cowtipn on Thu, 03/15/2007 - 12:48pm.

I agree, Bad does a good job. It's interesting to see this topic has united us here.


bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 5:41pm.

That someone would have to take legal action to ensure that one is treated fairly by a taxpayer funded entity is absurd!

Is there a WEB site that can show us the charter and/or PTC legal agreements for it's purpose?

I can't seem to find the info. on PTC's WEB site.

The more information I read about the Airport Authority the more it sounds like a very expensive, taxpayer funded, good-ole "boys club".


bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 5:31pm.

the Airport Authority isn't being run like the old Development Authority.

I would hate to think about how much we would have to pay if we had to buy an airport we didn't want.


Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 6:35pm.

Ye jest don't onderstand? Whut ye do is: tax somethin, lak a hotel room, then you can pay for tennis centers, airports, and above all LAWYERS. (regular taxes pay rest).
And, jest look at the jobs ye create fer buddies!
And jest look at all uf thu industrie we have got in the last five years---oh, you say we have lost indutry----sorry. But we do have a hobby port for our flyers! And a tennis center fer our bums!
But weuns got many wing places and big boxes and bigg parkin lots.

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