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Airport officials OK"s policy |
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Monday, 12 October 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Minimum operating standards have been approved for those providing commercial business at the Neil Armstrong Airport.
The standards apply to anyone providing commercial aeronautical or aviation-related activities or services to the public at the county airport outside of New Knoxville. They adhere to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, public record and Auglaize County ordinances.
They were developed taking into consideration the aviation role of the airport, currently existing airport facilities and services, planned development for the airport, and promotion of fair and uniform competition taking into account existing providers of services and commodities so as to avoid conferring any unfair advantage, according to the resolution signed
by Auglaize County Commissioners, who authorized adoption of the standards.
“They establish the absolute baseline for anyone wanting to operate a commercial business here,” Neil Armstrong Airport Manager Sean Stroh said. “We’ve had non-written standards over the years, but this is the first time a formal policy has been adopted.
“By adhering to minimum standards, we make sure everyone is treated fairly, that there is no discrimination,” he said.
In the future, he said having such standards in place also is likely to be part of requirements to receive federal support.
There currently are three businesses which provide commercial services located at the airport.
“Anything done to boost business is definitely considered commercial activity,” Stroh said of the businesses which include a maintenance facility, flight school and aircraft sales, operated by members of the community.
He said the aircraft sales business opened more than 10 years ago, while the flight school opened at the beginning of the year.
The standards address a wide variety of issues from types of facilities to required insurance.
“We most likely will review the 21-page document annually or biannually,” Stroh said. “We will have to make sure nothing needs changed as circumstances change at the facility.
“We’ve been working on this quite a few years, gathering as many examples of standards from around the country as we could and grabbing the best parts of them to model for this,” he said.
Stroh explained standards vary based on the size and location of airports, with standards for the Auglaize County airport being substantially different than that for the Ohio State University airport, for example, because of varied degrees of commercial activity.
“We tailored ours to protect our airport,” Stroh said. “We don’t want to discourage any business from coming onto the field.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 October 2009 )
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