Property near airport to be clear-cut; county board tables action on hangers

Nearly 20 acres of privately-owned land along County Road 451 will be clear-cut to be in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements for the glide angle to the airport in Rogers City The Presque Isle County Commission voted last Wednesday to approve.the clear cutting while tabling action on a hangar.

?There was concern over the grant money ? we have an easement that is on the verge of being signed ? for 19.3 acres that goes across 451,? Commissioner Robert Schell said. ?It is private property.? According to FAA requirements, 5.1 acres must be clear-cut which leaves about 14 acres and the question was whether to clear-cut the rest or not.

THE PROPERTY owner?s preference is to have it clear-cut now rather have to do it later on. ?If we just top the trees they would grow back within a five-year time period,? Schell said. ?Then it would have to be dealt with again all at our own cost.? The clear-cut would cost about $60,000 using grant money now available, with 90 percent funded federally, five percent by the state and five percent by the county. ?So, it would cost the county about $3,000 if we do it with the grant money,? Schell said. ?If we wait and go in and only top the trees, we?d have to deal with it again in the future all at the county?s expense.? The private property owner will maintain ownership and the property can still be used for development.

?We are talking about some shrubbery and landscaping so it doesn?t look barren out there,? Schell added. Commissioner Michael Darga said the county could spend a lot more than $3,000 in five years if it wasn?t clear-cut now with grant money. The other airport issue revolved around the hangar request at the airport.

?We got the request for the hangar money,? Schell said. ?We also had the loan from the delinquent tax fund that put into airport money — $5,000 ? which brought us up to $135,000 for the costs of the hangar.? The late Elmer Radka left $100,000 to be used for a hangar at the airport. The question is, once the hangar was up and built and starts receiving revenue, is it required to be put back into the airport?

?WE WANTED to take the money and roll it through the airport and pay back the delinquent tax fund we borrowed the money from,? Schell said. ?We also wanted to check and see whether or not that money off the airport could be used to make improvements to the other county airport in Onaway.? Chairman Allan Bruder questioned the funding of an original $100,000 going toward the hangar project. Darga said, ?We took that out of the ta

x revolving fund to pay for concrete work, which was never completed.? ?It?ll cost more than $100,000 for the hangar and we still may be $5,000 short,? Schell added. ?They want to put up eight hangars ? if we had three out of the eight hangar spaces rented ? it would make the payments if we get a 10-year loan.

?But since we have the $35,000 to put in that account for cement work, we thought we could use it and pay it back when we have to, making sure it doesn?t jeopardize the terms of that request to pay back that loan money. ?We have to make sure we comply with the terms of the request for the grant,? he added.

The hangar costs would be $72,000 with a 10 percent deposit. The committee has been stalling on a decision because the cement work has not been completed. Because the costs for the cement work ran $15,000 over the budgeted amount, the, a decision was made to re-spec and re-bid the work as there had been some confusion about the excavation work. It was agreed to hold off on soliciting construction bids until the price of the concrete work can be nailed down.