May 12, 2004 By Amy Karpinsky 4 min read

Members of the Fayette County Airport Authority said Tuesday that a recent meeting with members of Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation to resolve lease issues for Connellsville Airport property failed to resolve much of anything. Following a discussion of the matter, the authority decided to involve the county commissioners by requesting a meeting between the three commissioners, members of FACT and the airport authority to resolve outstanding issues.

FACT is planning to build a transit facility on several acres of airport property that it will lease from the authority. However, since the decision to locate the facility at the airport, issues involving payment to the authority remain unresolved.

During Tuesday’s work session, authority chairman Fred K. Davis outlined the results of the recent meeting. Davis said FACT has not reimbursed the authority for the $34,000 the authority spent to receive the environmental clearances to allow for construction of the FACT transit center. Davis said FACT solicitor Sheryl Heid doesn’t believe FACT has to pay despite the fact that FACT was the sole beneficiary of the action.

Authority member Bob Schiffbauer, former chairman, said he remembers that in a meeting months ago a representative of FACT said at least a portion of the money would be reimbursed. Schiffbauer said he remembered that Michelle Shumar (head of FACT) wanted a full explanation for the reason the reimbursement was needed.

Davis said he recalls that the authority assisted FACT in obtaining the environmental clearances in a timely fashion so no grant money would be lost.

“FACT was the sole beneficiary of the environmental clearance,” Davis said. Authority member Jesse Wallace said if FACT hadn’t planned to build at the site, the authority would not have spent the money.

Solicitor Mark Morrison said he hasn’t heard a response from Heid since the meeting. Airport manager Sam Cortis said he did receive a copy of the plans for the transit center, but noted that it includes more acreage than was initially discussed. Morrison said the initial discussion was for 4.5 acres, more or less, and the documentation Cortis received calls for 5.6 acres.

“More or less doesn’t mean another acre,” Morrison said.

Davis said another concern he has is a change in the extension of the lease term from 12 to 25 years, which was initialed by the county commissioners and not any member of the airport authority. Morrison said the authority signed it first and Davis added that it hasn’t had board action.

Davis also said there was an initial maintenance agreement for $150 per month with FACT that authority member Tim Mahoney said was later supposed to be $500 per month. The authority has not received any money at all. Morrison said it is his belief that the documentation went to the desk of a county commissioner and that is where it stopped.

In response to a question from Davis, Morrison said he has not received any information about insurance liens and coverage.

Another critical issue is the failure of FACT to agree to help pay for a 12-inch water line, saying they only need a 6-inch water line. Since an agreement hasn’t been reached, the authority members said they will enter into an agreement with the Fayette Airport Enterprises LLC, which is building a sewage treatment plant, for sewage and leave FACT out of the agreement.

“I think we should do it all for us and then strike a deal with them later,” Wallace said. Davis said he would rather have FACT not pay the group over the hill (Fayette Airport Enterprises) than not pay the authority.

Mahoney said he thinks the board has been dealing in good faith with everybody. Schiffbauer then suggested that the commissioners become involved “and help straighten this mess up.”

Mahoney said the commissioners can set up a meeting and get the problems aired out once and for all. “We need to get this done,” Mahoney said.