NorCo Council Extends Airport Charter to 2051

Board member Marc Troutman (left) and Director
Charles Eeverett (right)

Last time I visited the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, they were at the very posh and very exclusive Saucon Valley Country Club. How the hell I ever got in I'll never know. Though they really were there for a public meeting, it was an incredibly tone deaf move by a Board perceived as aristocratic and exclusive.

Things have changed. ... I think.

At their last meeting, Lehigh County's Commissioners voted 8-0 to extend the Authority's Charter until 2051. Northampton County unanimously followed suit at their May 5 meeting.

Rev. Mike Dowd, a former Northampton County Council member and the Board's new Chairman, told Council the Airport Authority has made significant strides in achieving transparency and accountability. Starting in April, the Board began to televise their meetings. The budget, contracts and meeting minutes are all available online. There will even be occasional evening meetings.

The Airport's financial picture appears to be rosier now than it has been in some time, reported Executive Director Charles R. Everett. He told Council that the Airport finished 2015 with a 10% increase in passenger and a 36% increase in cargo traffic, leading to $1.5 million in additional revenue.The Board also refinanced debt, lowering its annual payments by $1 million. Its closing with Fed Ex for a regional distribution facility is just a few weeks away, and will mean 3,000 more jobs in the Lehigh Valley. There is an agreement to sell an additional 230 acres in Allen and East Allen Township to the Rockefeller Group, which is developing the Fed Ex facility. This Summer, the Airport will build a multimodal facility for bus traffic  A new, 60,000 sq ft hangar is being built for general aviation tenants.

The sale of the Fed Ex facility will mean about $9.8 million in the airport's coffers. The remaining land will be sold for approximately $7 million.

"Maybe you'll find some money for Braden," joked Bob Werner, referring to a Forks Township airpark owned by the airport.

Currently, the Airport's Charter is expected to expire in 2035. Hayden Phillips noted that the 35-year extension would be computed from 2016, meaning that the Airport Charter will only be extended by 16 years, or until 2051.

Everett told Council that the Lehigh Valley's proximity to much larger airports in Newark and Philadelphia mean that passenger traffic will be limited, although efforts are made to maximize deals with airlines. He noted that, unlike the larger airports, Lehigh Valley has more capacity, and is only operating at about 35% of its potential.  

This is where cargo comes in, and Everett claims that is growing "by leaps and bounds." he noted that Lehigh Valley is now one of five hubs across the country for Amazon. That will bring in 60 jobs.    

Should Airport Authority Extend Charter 50 Years?

I've told you that the Board of Governors of the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority recently met at, of all places, the Saucon Valley Country Club. Executive Director Charles Everett wanted to hire a law firm that employs his wife "of counsel." And that same Executive Director, with his wife, was spotted over the weekend making a booze run in a government-supplied Chevy Tahoe. Now comes word that the Airport Authority wants to extend its Charter by another 50 years.

This was a topic for discussion at the last meeting of Northampton County Council. But its liaison to the Airport Authority, Glenn Geissinger, was absent. He's running for Congress and has no time for lowly county government. But he was nice enough to email Council members a few days later. Here's what he said.

The LNAA is requesting a 50 year extension of its charter in order to enter into a lease agreement with a vendor. The terms of the lease that are being negotiated would exceed the current life span authorization of the authority.

The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners brought this item to its meetings and determined to table it in order to enter into an open discussion about the LNAA with Northampton County Council. Lehigh County Chairman, Brad Osborne is working to set a joint meeting of both our boards and the executive leadership of the LNAA.

Since it has been the general feeling by both county governing bodies that the LNAA has not been as responsive to the needs of the citizens of the Lehigh Valley as it could have been in the past and both boards, along with their respective county executives, have placed a sitting member of their body on the LNAA Board of Governors, Mike Schware is Lehigh County’s, I support moving forward with such a public meeting to allow the LNAA leadership to layout its vision for the future of the aviation assets in its control and to allow the governing bodies to openly counsel together and have public input into the future direction of the LNAA.

President Ferraro has authorized me to work with Commissioner Osborne to ensure that such a meeting is coordinated in the near future. I expect we will have it shortly after the beginning of the New Year after our new members are sworn.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

NorCo Council to Stoffa: Sue The Bastards

Yesterday, I told you that Northampton County Council was mulling over a resolution calling on Executive John Stoffa to sue the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority over plans to sell Braden Airpark, located in Forks Township.

"Sue the bastards!" advises Council's legal scholar, Phil Lauer.

"Sue the bastards!" echoes County Solicitor Dan Spengler.

But Executive John Stoffa doesn't want to sue the bastards. He told Council he was on the phone with the bastards all afternoon, and they promised him not to sell Braden Airpark until next March. He thinks that call should be made by the next Executive.

"I don't want to sue the Airport," he told Council. "We can't afford it. We are in Court too much already."

Knowing how Stoffa feels, Council voted 8-0 to sue the bastards.