Aviation board looks for sewer reimbursements

The Board of Aviation Commissioners wants to recover some of the cost of installing an 8-inch sewer from the DeKalb County Airport terminal to a lift station at the corner of C.R. 60 and C.R. 427 in 2004.

The board discussed the issue at its monthly meeting Friday afternoon.

Board treasurer Brad Stump said the airport had a larger, more expensive sewer line built because the DeKalb County Health Department urged the board to install a line that would allow houses on the north side of C.R. 60 to connect to it.

Initial estimates for the project were around $250,000, but it ended up costing twice that amount — roughly a half-million dollars — because of the type of sewer needed to allow people to tap in.

Stump said the board got the impression from the county health department that installing the more-expensive sewer was a matter of public health, and that homes along C.R. 60 would be required to tap in and reimburse the airport.

“If it was there for a public safety purpose ... we’d like to see someone follow up on it,” Stump said.

Board vice-president Jeff Turner said he feels the board has a responsibility to investigate the issue because public money was used for the project.

Airport manager Russ Couchman also wants to make sure that any money owed to the airport is recouped.

“If we were forced into spending this money, we’d like to get it back,” he said.

According to board attorney Jim McCanna, environmental health specialist Bernie Sukala was not aware of the problem until recently. The Board of Aviation Commissioners expects the issue to be discussed at the next DeKalb County Board of Health meeting, July 9 at 7:30 p.m.

In other business:

• The board continued to discuss plans to build a wildlife security fence around the airport perimeter. The airport’s rental home at 6202 C.R. 27 will have to be torn down for the fence, Couchman said. The board discussed allowing emergency response teams and firefighters to use the house for practice before it is demolished.

“We try to get as much public use out of it as we can,” Stump said.

Revised plans for the fence also call for Couchman’s home to be located inside the fence. Because Couchman is an airport employee, the FAA does not have a problem with the plan, board member Paul Shaffer said. Enclosing the house would save money by reducing the length of fence by approximately 500 feet.

• Shaffer and Couchman told the board about a plan for improved electronic gate controllers. Shaffer said that the airport’s consulting engineer, Butler Fairman & Seufert, will be working with a security firm on the plan. Shaffer and Couchman hope to have wireless keypads that will connected to a main computer through a wireless connection. Couchman would be able to control the gates from a central location. The board also discussed the possibility of using proximity cards to access airport property and hangars. The system would allow the airport to be locked down if an incident occurred.

The airport would have to pay for a main computer, but if a grant comes through for the fence, the rest of the system would be paid for.

• The board decided to secure an additional bid for a sewer lateral project. So far, one bid of $23,954 has been secured. Stump and Couchman were authorized by the board to take the lowest, best bid.

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