Airport officials trying to get their act together

Lack of communication apparently has the city of Lewiston and Nez Perce County in at least moderately serious trouble with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Representatives of both local jurisdictions sweated through a three-hour meeting Thursday morning that seemed to center on the fact that people responsible for overseeing the mutually-owned airport haven't been talking to each other for a long time.

Lewiston Public Works Director Chris Davies said he will accept the blame for not telling the FAA early in the process the city wants to cross airport property with a water line. But the project hasn't been a secret, he said, so why didn't someone who knew the FAA needed to be involved stop him?

The behind-the-scenes complaining and bickering erupted publicly in recent weeks. Now everyone is stepping forward because of concerns the FAA may want money for right of way used for construction of Bryden Canyon Road.

The city recently found the old appraisals valuing the airport property at about $118,000 and $16,000, City Attorney Don L. Roberts said.

The FAA can hinder work that needs to be done quickly to allow industrial expansion south of the airport beyond the Southside Industrial Airpark that is being built primarily with federal and state grants, plus local and private participation.

Those projects tie into others, including a new irrigation system for the Bryden Canyon Golf Course that is on airport property, providing fire flows for a proposed expansion of Howell CNC Machine on the old Tricker Trailer site, an industrial park on the southeast corner of Sixth Street and Southport Avenue and potentially a 120-acre residential development near 10th Street and Richardson Avenue.

Airport Manager Robin L. Turner, who reviewed the status of several projects for the three county commissioners, two city councilors, several senior city staff people and others, said the development "isn't just about aviation. This is your own stimulus package ... and it's capable of producing jobs and revenue."

Turner said the airport recently jumped past Sun Valley-Hailey to become the third biggest air carrier in the state, surpassed only by Boise and Idaho Falls. That means people are moving and spending money, he said. "There is something good happening around here. It's a tidbit of good news."

The FAA consented to meeting with city-county-airport representatives sometime in September. A proposal by county Prosecutor Dan Spickler to allow a small core group consisting of himself, Roberts and Turner to identify the key issues and start gathering documents and preparing a presentation for the FAA appeared to be acceptable.

Staff will stand by to provide whatever assistance is needed, Davies and Parks and Recreation Director Lynn C. Moss said. Moss overseas city buildings and other facilities, including the golf course.

The importance of presenting a unified front and giving the FAA what it wants as far as paperwork was stressed. It will be primarily a legal exercise, Spickler said, and it will take preparation "so we don't go in looking like a bunch of bumbling idiots."

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Lee may be contacted at slee@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.