June 14--Fans of Braden Airpark in Forks Township will get 120 days to come up with a way to keep the airfield operating, while Allentown has gotten the go-ahead to sell the fire training school it runs at the region's other small airfield, Queen City Airport.
The two decisions came at a special meeting Thursday of the Lehigh Valley International Airport Authority.
The authority voted to delay a decision on whether to close and sell Braden Airpark for 120 days, allowing its staff time to obtain state and federal approvals for the closure, and supporters of the airport to come up with an alternative plan to keep the airport operating as a community airfield.
"We have to determine how to move forward," said Charles Everett, executive director of LVIA. "The last thing any aviation operator wants to do is close an airport."
Still, he said, continuing to operate the airfield in Forks Township at a loss doesn't make financial sense for a cash-strapped airport like Lehigh Valley. While Braden's revenues cover its operating expenses, they don't come close to covering the $160,000 in annual debt service payments the authority incurred when it acquired Braden.
Braden also needs between $400,000 and $500,000 in improvements to bring it up to code, Everett said.
Lehigh Valley Aviation Association President Mike Rosenfeld praised the decision to provide Braden supporters a chance to come up with a plan to keep that airport operating. There are 32 planes based at Braden.
"We want to work with you," Rosenfeld said. "This latest motion is a step, to give time to find a suitable buyer. It is reasonable time, to start, and we are very grateful for that."
Since it announced in May that it was looking at closing Braden, the authority has heard from local lawmakers, county and local officials and private pilots urging the board to allow the Forks airfield to continue to operate.
Board member Bert Daday said it's up to the airfield's supporters, whether county or state officials or the aviation club, to come up with the money to do that.
Earlier in the meeting, the authority voted to let Allentown sell its fire training school next to Queen City Airport and keep nearly $1 million in proceeds.
The sale of the 2.4-acre fire school land to Health Network Laboratories, a subsidiary of Lehigh Valley Health Network, was halted in February by City Council because it did not have the blessing of the Federal Aviation Administration. Since then, the FAA has recommended the city and the airport authority work out a settlement.
The deal still needs approval of the FAA -- but Allentown appears on the way to completing a sale that will allow Health Network Laboratories to add a parking lot and double its staff of 150 in south Allentown.
Rosenfeld disagreed with the Queen City decision. He maintains that the $978,000 the city would get for the land should go to the authority to further general aviation in the Lehigh Valley.
Airport board member J. Michael Dowd said that if Allentown wasn't allowed to keep the proceeds from the sale, it would have kept the parcel and no one would get any sale proceeds.
"If they can't sell the property, there is no million to be had by anybody," Dowd said.
Last year, Mayor Ed Pawlowski announced plans to move the fire academy and sell the land to Health Network Laboratories so it could expand. Without the expansion, the lab would have to leave the city, Pawlowski said.
But the Federal Aviation Administration raised a red flag, citing an agreement that required Allentown to maintain the fire school "in perpetuity." The agency later urged the authority and the city to seek a deal to allow the sale.
After the vote allowing Allentown to sell the land and keep the proceeds, Pawlowski, who is a member of the airport authority's executive committee, said he was pleased with the outcome.
"We get to preserve 300 jobs in Allentown," Pawlowski said. "It is good for the city, good for the airport and good for the entire region."
The city will use the money to move the fire school to better facilities at the Allentown Police Academy and to recreate the fire tower in Emmaus, Pawlowski said.
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Copyright 2013 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
