Airport
Authority meets; EAA to sponsor ‘Young Eagles’ event
The Santa Ynez Valley Airport Authority board of directors
conducted their regular monthly meeting at the airport administration building
on Thursday, May 1, 2008. The meeting was attended by Chairman Willy
Chamberlin, President Jim Kunkle, Vice-President Garth Carrier, Secretary
Albert Margolis, Treasurer David Romero, and by directors Tom Petersen, Jeff
Hecker, and Bob Leite. Director Rich Condit was absent.
The board reported on discussions during their executive session
at the April meeting. Chamberlin said that the board had continuing discussions
on progress being made with the registration on aircraft in the county hangars
not being exactly as the hangar lease agreement lessee name. The board it
taking actions to develop a letter of understanding for those hangar tenants
who have different names on these documents to indicate that another party on
the registration to an aircraft, in most cases the spouse of the hangar tenant,
if not on the hangar lease, has no right of survivorship on the hangar lease.
Kunkle noted that he had a meeting with council and it was determined that the
lease is not an assignable contract.
The board voted to accept the completed 2007 audited financial
statements. During discussion of the audit Chamberlin noted that the cost of
the audits are higher and higher each year as public agencies and quasi-public
agencies such as the authority must comply with more stringent audit
requirements. Chamberlin said that in years past, as the audit was in progress,
defects in the accounting processes of the organization could be corrected …
now the audit will note the deficiencies.
During public comments Chamberlin cut short the repeated
questioning of an airport user who had made application to the authority for
the lease of one of the trailers adjacent to the airport building. Jeff
Millard, a local flight instructor and charter pilot, questioned the board on
what process was to be used to make application for the lease. Millard said
that the board did not give him sufficient hearing on his proposal and then
informed him that the facility was no longer available for lease. Millard
continued to press the board for a more detailed answer but an impatient
Chamberlin called an end to the public comment period, allowing the meeting to
proceed.
Airport board consultant Kim Joos gave a report on the status of
the conditional use permit process, indicating that the County has issued its
initial study. Chamberlin noted that if the airport board agreed to the
mitigation measures in the County report then it would be likely that a
negative declaration would be issued obviating the need for an expensive and
time consuming environmental impact report.
Airport Manager Keegan Bailey and Romero have been making progress
in the cleanup of the glider port area. Previously, a collection of derelict,
unused, and unknown vehicles had been parked to the north of the row of gliders
at the east end of the airport. Bailey has succeeded in identifying owners of
some of the vehicles, having some of the unserviceable trailers towed, and is
in the process of clearing the area of non-aeronautical vehicles and storage
units.
Hecker asked for direction from the board on price ranges for
proposing maintenance improvements to the airport building. A discussion that
began with the replacement of the windows in the pilot’s lounge is expanding
into plans on upgrading the restrooms to make them handicap accessible,
re-engineering the building, adding porches, and other general improvements.
The board voted to move forward with preliminary studies from Hecker with a
theoretical budget of $100,000.
The next meeting of the airport authority will be June 5 at 7 p.m.
Young Eagles to Fly!
The Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara chapters of the Experimental
Aircraft Association will be sponsoring their annual “Young Eagles” event at
Santa Ynez Airport May 10 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
The EAA Young Eagles program was launched in 1992 to give
interested young people, ages 8 – 17, an opportunity to go flying in a
general aviation airplane. These flights are offered free of charge and are
made possible through the generosity of EAA member volunteers.
Since 1992, more than 1.3 million Young Eagles have enjoyed a
flight through the program. Young Eagles have been registered in more than 90
different countries and have been flown by more than 41,000 volunteer pilots.
Lloyd Sorensen, local coordinator for the event, expects nearly
100 youngsters to participate.
Ten pilots and airplanes will be available for rides. Sorensen had
distributed 100 applications to local youth organizations, educational
institutions, and community groups.
Some on-site registration of Young Eagles will be accommodated,
time and resources permitting.
Sport Aviators Inc./EAA Chapter 491 will be providing static
displays of experimental, light sport and antique aircraft during the event to
keep kids occupied.
This is an
outstanding opportunity to come out to our beautiful county airport.