County wants to be rid of airport albatross

OXFORD COUNTY - The Oxford County Commissioners have an airport they'd like to unload.

The County Commissioners and the Budget Advisory Committee held a joint session with the county attorney, November 9, to discuss the airport and an on-going legal issue involving it.

"It's no secret that we've been looking for an exit strategy from the airport for years," Commission Chairman Stephen Merrill told the committee members. "The renegotiation of the lease looks like a part of that strategy."

Merrill and Cole made it clear that the disposal of the hangars and/or the main building at the facility would not affect the county's ownership of the runways and operating equipment.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pays 95 percent on the cost of the runway construction, and some maintenance activities that directly impact aircraft safety when using it, such as tree trimming in the glide path, paving, etc. The county's maintenance costs usually run between $30,000 and $50,000 per year. An FAA-required capital fund usually runs another $10,000.

The county, which owns the Oxford County Airport, located in Oxford, and its principal tenant, Oxford Aviation Inc., have dueled for years over the condition of the facility, its size and the management practices of Oxford Aviation's chief executive, Mike Horowitz, who is also the airport's FAA-approved  "fixed base operator."

As explained by County Administrator Scott Cole, the county and the airport's tenant have been involved in a lawsuit brought by the tenant and it had been settled in arbitration, except for renegotiating the terms of the lease. To this end, the county had switched attorneys from Joshua Carver, of Portland, to Leonard Sharon, of Lewiston.

Cole, who officially started in January, and County Treasurer Roy Gedat, who took office in March, found the airport's accounting system was still very much in a 19-century mode, using ledger and pen instead of computer software. Both credited their staffs with the "painstaking" work of reconstructing the ledgers as far as 2007, and translating the information onto a computerized system. The results were of somewhat questionable accuracy, from a strict accounting viewpoint, but it is the best gauge of the airport's cost as could be made, said Cole.

The commissioners, budget committee and Sharon went into executive session for the attorney to brief both on the status of the negotiations with the tenant. The private session was justified, said Cole, because the matters discussed included information and legal plans, disclosure of which could compromise the county's position in negotiations.