Aug 13, 2003 By Amy Karpinsky 4 min read

TOL Aviation Inc. president Richard E. Nensel testified Tuesday that he hand delivered a letter to the Connellsville Airport last October expressing a desire to renew a lease with the Fayette County Airport Authority. However, several airport officials testified that they only recently became aware of the letter.

During a hearing before Judge Steve P. Leskinen, Nensel said he personally handed the letter to the “office attendant” last Oct. 4. Nensel said he didn’t know to whom he gave the letter.

At the time, Mandy Zimmerman worked in the office at the airport, but she was not called to testify.

TOL Aviation and the airport authority entered into a 20-year lease in October 1982 for hangars at the airport. Whether or not there is still a binding lease and who owns the hangars is at the crux of the legal dispute. TOL subleases the hangars to other tenants.

Earlier this year, believing that the authority retained ownership of the hangars, airport officials changed the locks and notified tenants of changes in rent payments. However, Leskinen ordered the authority to cease its actions until the dispute is resolved. The rent payments are now being held in escrow.

Nensel’s attorney, Charles Kelly, produced a document stating that Nensel spent $336,050.11 in construction costs for the 12-unit hangar.

Gerald E. Dennis of Hopwood, who rents one of the hangars from TOL, testified that he was advised in May by the airport authority that his monthly rent would increase from $200 to $300. He said he then moved into another hangar and was charged $175 per month.

Under questioning from airport authority solicitor Mark F. Morrison, Nensel said he didn’t receive a termination notice for the lease. He said there were “several different stipulations” in the lease, and he exercised one by writing the letter stating of his intention to renew the lease. During Nensel’s testimony, Morrison pointed out that the letter had a “received” stamp with a date of Oct. 8, 2002, on it, although Nensel testified that he delivered the letter on Oct. 4.

Nensel said that he was not aware that the lease was to end, but said he had a letter from the airport authority’s solicitor. In reading the letter from the authority, Morrison suggested that the letter was informing Nensel that the lease was not being renewed.

Nensel testified that during the lease, he paid rent up until 1994 or 1995 and then didn’t attempt to pay again until 2001. However, Nensel said the check he sent in the spring of 2001 was never cashed, so he didn’t send any more money.

Authority chairman Fred K. Davis and authority members Martin Griglak and Tim Mahoney each testified that they had not seen Nensel’s Oct. 4 letter until Tuesday. They also testified that Nensel did not pay any rent in 2002.

Airport operations manager Sam Cortis testified that he sent a letter in April to Nensel that the authority was taking possession of the hangar.

Cortis said Nensel wasn’t paying rent and he didn’t see the letter attempting to extend the lease before last week. Cortis said it would be standard procedure to notify the authority chairman and solicitor of such a letter, knowing the importance of the TOL issue.

In closing, Morrison said he believes the brief he filed is clear in stating that the authority should retain ownership of the hangar. A provision in the lease states that if it isn’t renewed and TOL hasn’t begun to dismantle the hangar by 90 days after the conclusion of the lease, it is the property of the airport authority.

Kelly said it is his opinion that Nensel and TOL own and operate the hangar. He said it is TOL’s position that the lease was extended, but the “worst-case scenario” is that TOL is still a month-to-month tenant because the authority has not sent a letter terminating the lease.

An earlier ruling by Judge Gerald Solomon stating the authority was correct in ejecting TOL and is due liability damages was also mentioned. Leskinen said either attorney is free to submit information either in favor of or against the finality of that ruling prior to Monday.

Kelly asked Leskinen to issue a preliminary injunction so there are no additional attempts by the authority to take over the hangar. Leskinen stated that his earlier order remains in effect until he makes a ruling.