Aviation Firm Feeling It's No Longer Wanted

Sept. 19, 2012

Sept. 19--The owners of a company that refurbishes multi-million dollar jets at Brunswick Golden Isles Airport says the climate created by the Glynn County Airport Commission is too hostile for them to conduct business there, and they are thinking of moving to Florida.

Stambaugh Aviation, which primarily performs maintenance and repairs on Boeing aircraft, employs 102 people and is anticipating $15 million in sales this year.

Its co-owners, Mark and Scott Stambaugh, have been in talks with the Florida Chamber of Commerce and airport authorities in north Florida about moving their operation south.

While no decisions about leaving Glynn County have been made, they say if things continue the way they are, the company that has operated here since 1989 will have no choice but to leave.

The Stambaughs' problems with the airport commission began in 2009, when several of the company's customers received letters threatening seizure of their aircraft. Customers were told that if a plane was stored for more than 90 days, it could be seized, Mark Stambaugh said.

That prevents the business from storing airplanes before work can be done and winning new contracts.

"We can't see making an investment here if the airport manager is beating us up every day," Scott Stambaugh said.

When the business wanted to expand its runway, it was blocked by the airport commission, Mark Stambaugh said. What the company estimated to be a $300,000 project would have cost it more than $1 million if completed under airport commission rules.

"The issue is we have some growing pains here," Scott Stambaugh said.

The company has done everything short of filing litigation to enforce its lease, Scott Stambaugh said. It's spending nearly $40,000 on attorney's fees fighting to make sure the commission doesn't overstep powers it says are outlined in the lease.

The final straw for Stambaugh is a proposed change to the Glynn County ordinance that governs the airport and the commission's activities. The airport commission paid $42,000 to a consultant to help update the ordinances for the first time in 30 years.

Stambaugh and others who lease facilities at Brunswick Golden Isles Airport or at McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport feel the draft gives too much power to the airport commission and the executive director.

Changes include giving the commission the ability to implement policies, standards and rules and providing the executive director the power to make rules, regulations and decisions "as may be appropriate."

Scott Stambaugh says the changes would cripple businesses that work with the airport commission.

The company is depending on the Glynn County Commission to take a stand. Any proposed changes to the airport commission's ordinance will have to be approved by the county commission.

"We're hoping the county commission will take an interest," Scott Stambaugh said.

The revised ordinance provides the most power with the least oversight of all the airports Stambaugh Aviation has done business with, Scott Stambaugh said.

"We don't believe a county employee should have that much power," he said.

Stambaugh is not the only business concerned about the new ordinance. Members of the Glynn County Airport Tenants Association are also concerned about the changes.

Some spoke during a public comment meeting Monday regarding concerns about oversight, leasing and insurance requirements they say are too high.

They feel the changes, among other things, could take away the oversight of the county commission.

Airport Executive Director Steve Brian says he has had ongoing issues with Stambaugh Aviation, including the time when it had four planes parked on a runway blocking others from using the area.

"It's like parking a car in the middle of a street," Brian said, adding he doesn't want Stambaugh to leave.

Stambaugh has been in talks with the airport commission and the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority, which helps attract new businesses and assists existing industry.

Nathan Sparks, director of the development authority, says his priority is keeping the business here.

"They feel that the regulations that they're asked to live by at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport are overly burdensome," Sparks said. "My intention is to keep them here."

Sparks said he wasn't ready to speculate what Stambaugh's absence might mean for the airport and Glynn County.

Copyright 2012 - The Brunswick News, Ga.