Port of Orcas at the "Doorstep to the Doghouse" with FAA on Access Fees

At the Port of Orcas Nov. 12 meeting, Port Commissioners formed a sub-committee to draft a response to the Federal Aviation Administration’s directive that the Port’s neighbors on adjacent property pay a “Through the Fence” (TTF) access fee in compensation for the FAA’s concession that t the property owners’ current access be “grandfathered.”

The (TTF) agreements – and access fees — have periodically been debated by the Port and the FAA. This April, the FAA renewed the debate, requiring the Port to institute a plan to disallow residential hangar homes and to require the TTF access fees. In the Sept. 30 2009 FAA manual, it described such homes as “incompatible land use.”

As the Commissioners attempt to deal with the FAA directive, affected property owners have protested the measure, citing the FAA’s own exceptions to the prohibition. In the past seven years, the FAA has on least three instances allowed “hangar homes” and other property development on adjacent land that allows airport access.

Property owners have encouraged the Port to withdraw from FAA funding in response to this directive. However, the Port and its neighbors have been concerned that withdrawing from FAA regulation may require payback for grant funds already received and used in the port’s capital projects.

At the Nov. 12 meeting, Port Commissioners Bret Thurman and Garth Eimers related their recent conversation with local FAA official Carol (Key) Soumi. The commissioners said that that as long as the Port of Orcas continues to operate as an airport, FAA funds already received (about $150,000 per year and designated for capital projects) will not have to be paid back unless the airport ceases to exist.

While the FAA may back down from their stance that property adjacent to the Port may be an “incompatible land use,” the Port Commissioners state that the FAA still requires compensation for this consideration through access fees. They selected Bret Thurman and Steve Hopkins  to draft an agreement with such fees incorporated into it.

At the meeting, Port Commissioner Ulanah McCoy asked for the property owners’ response. Neighbor Cathy Vierthaler replied that they would need to talk with each other before responding, and they plan to meet on Nov. 19 to discuss the issue.  They will appoint three or four representatives from that group to work with the Port subcommittee members.

Airport neighbor Eric Gourley said that the timing of the Port’s response to the FAA should be considered, noting that the fiscal year starts on Oct. 1.  With the Port’s operating budget coming from taxes and fees, he questioned if the FAA would withhold funding while they Port works on a plan to comply with the FAA in implementing TTF fees.

Port Chair Garth Eimers said that the Port was not currently on a non-compliance list, but that it would “not receive more funds from the FAA until a plan is submitted.”

Thurman summed the situation up:“We’re not in the doghouse, but on the doorsteps of the doghouse in their eyes.”

2010 Budget

The 2010 Port of Orcas annual budget, drafted by Port Manager Bea vonTobel,  was approved by the Commissioners with some minor modifications. The budget this year is set at $204,200, with property tax contributions for the General Fund and Capital Projects amounting to $208.200.

Capital projects budgeted for this year (2009) are the runway overlay, budgeted at $100,000, with $22,252 spent year-to-date, and the drainage project, budgeted at $130,000, with $52,134 spent to date.

The Port Commissioners approved a bid from Red Side Construction to complete the north outfall drainage improvements. The bid was the lowest of six bids, and vonTobel had determined that the company is qualified to undertake the project. No local companies bid on the project to re-anchor the outfall pipe that had been broken loose by storms and shifted outside of the current easement.