Dec. 27—TRAVERSE CITY — It has been two years in the making, but a change in how the Cherry Capital Airport is governed is cleared for takeoff.
Articles of Incorporation were approved by both the Grand Traverse and Leelanau County boards earlier this month, though it will take several months to complete the transition from an airport commission to an airport authority, which has more autonomy.
"We're happy that we've completed this phase and look forward to the new phase in 2021," said Kevin Klein, executive director of the airport. "We're right on track where we need to be."
The next step in the transition process is filing the Articles of Incorporation with the State of Michigan, which will review the airport's application over the next 60 days.
At the same time information on the change will be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration and the process of transferring all property and grants to the new authority can begin, Klein said.
The goal is to have the transition completed by October, Klein said.
"Hopefully it will be just like a typical real estate transaction and everyone will sign off on Oct. 1," Klein said.
An authority board will be appointed over the next 60 days, Klein said. A regional authority will have nine members, with six appointed by the Grand Traverse board and three appointed by Leelanau. Under the current model Grand Traverse has five members and Leelanau two.
The board will likely consist of current members, with two more appointed, though the county boards could choose all new members if they wanted to, Klein said.
Cherry Capital Airport is jointly owned by Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties and is currently governed by the Northwestern Regional Airport Commission. Under the new Northwestern Regional Airport Authority the airport will be able to buy and sell property and issue debt or bonds for capital projects without having to come to both county boards for approval.
The airport has a goal of purchasing seven properties when they become available to expand a runway protection zone for the north/south runway as required by the FAA.
An authority also has control of zoning, which now lies with Traverse City.
Leelanau County Administrator Chet Janik said there are several positives to the change, such as Leelanau County having another member on the authority and the fact that an authority limits the potential liability for the two counties if the airport should fail financially.
The authority will need approval of both county boards to exercise its right of eminent domain, and any request for an election asking voters to approve a bond or millage for a major project also must be approved by both boards.
"So there are still checks and balances in place," Janik said.
The two-year process has been very open, with people having several opportunities to voice their opinions leading up to the change, Janik said.
In several meetings, work sessions and public hearings, members of the public expressed concern about an authority having too much power, as well as zoning decisions that opened the airport property up for non-airport-related businesses such as a gas station and a Costco store.
They also questioned whether an authority would be responsive to residents and business owners who live and work near the airport.
Others said the airport is functioning very well and questioned why the change is needed.
The authority governing model has only been allowed since 2015, when Michigan amended the Airport Authority Act to allow smaller airports to form authorities. Prior to Act 95, as the amendment is known, only airports that served more than 5 million passengers per year could form an authority.
Cherry Capital is one of two of the state's 17 commercial airports governed by a commission. The other is MBS International Airport in Freeland.
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