Settlement reached in hangar dispute
A Dunbar Township couple agreed to vacate hangars at the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport no later than the end of October under a settlement agreement announced Wednesday.
Attorney Mark Rowan, solicitor for the Fayette County Airport Authority, said that Terry Kriss agreed to pay $31,500 in rent to the authority, and would move items from the three hangars by Oct. 31.
In exchange, the authority will return uncashed rent checks to Kriss for rent he continued to pay — but the authority did not cash — after his eviction.
The board voted to evict Kriss in 2008 over allegations made by a woman who was an employee at the airport at the time. The authority eventually sued Kriss in Fayette County Court to get him out of the hangars, and over the rent.
During the brief court appearance, Kriss’ attorney, Leslie J. Mlakar, said that he would forward the first rent payment of $9,500 to the authority on behalf of his clients when he returned to his office is Greensburg.
A second payment of $11,000 is due in 30 days, and a second $11,000 payment is due in 60 days under the agreement, Rowan said. Additionally, starting in April, Kriss also will pay the regular monthly rental fee of $1,050, Rowan said.
Additionally, two of the three hangars that Kriss occupies will be demolished as part of a project at the airport. When that occurs, Kriss and the other occupants who will be impacted by the project will be given notices that they must move out within 45 days, Rowan said.
At that point, Kriss agreed that he would move out of the third hangar, too, as part of the settlement.
In the event that the project does not go forward, the settlement agreement called for Kriss to leave all three hangars no later than Oct. 31.
If he does not move out, Rowan said the agreement gives authority personnel the right to go into the hangars and move the items to a covered parking area, where Kriss will be charged $1,000 monthly rent until the items are removed.
Fayette County Judge Ralph C. Warman, who accepted the settlement, asked Kriss if he was in agreement with the terms of the agreement, and Kriss said he was.
Kriss and his wife, Diane, currently have a federal suit pending against the county, its Democratic commissioners, the airport authority and others.
The crux of the suit alleges that county officials waged a years-long campaign to devalue to the historic Meason house that the couple owns. The airport authority and a board member are named because, the suit alleges, the Krisses were first evicted in 2008 partially at the behest of county officials.