Sep. 6—The City of Cushing's municipal airport has recently lost its entitlement to federal discretionary funding.
Monies were pulled late spring after the City has, for years, rejected implementation of standard leasing practices per Federal Aviation Administration policy.
If the city continues along the path of violation of standards, it will make a bad situation worse, said Executive Director Grayson Ardies of the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, whose organization has been trying to assist the City of Cushing.
The problem began in 2018 when then Cushing City manager went to the ODAA and self-reported that old leases held at the airport by tenants that did not meet market rate or have the proper control provisions in place.
Airports in the United States are funded through a combination of federal grants, local user fees and tenant rent and fees. The federal government requires airports to be self-sustaining, so they receive little or no direct taxpayer support.
Without funding, a $4.5 million parallel taxiway project — scheduled to start construction in 2025 — has been lost. The FAA requires that all airports in the aviation system be compliant in safety and with standard regulations.
If federal and state funding are lost then costs to keep the airport open, operable and safe could fall to the taxpayer to keep that aviation facility compliant.
City of Cushing Interim City Manager Derek Griffith said, "We're currently in conversations with the FAA and we've hired legal counsel to address the lease issues."
The City of Cushing, in Payne County, operates under the commissioner and manager form of government with a charter and is composed of five members, one of which is designated by the board as chairman.
Currently, elected officials on this board are Ricky Lofton, B.J. Roberson, Steve Orton, Tyson Branyan and Nancy Dowell. The elected governing board members of the City Commission also serve as the Trustees of the airport authority.
Griffith confirmed that the airport's federal discretionary funding has been pulled until the Cushing airport is compliant, and that the optics are bad for Cushing officials and staff in management of this issue. Griffith said Cushing's city attorney, Jonathan Houseman, has been appointed to lead the problem solving.
Ardies said ODAA focused on helping Cushing to put proper hangar rental rates in place, which were approved by the city in 2022.
The failure to follow policy is in implementation of the rates, he said.
Griffith could not comment for the city as to why staff and officials are not compliant.
"If the city next year decides to implement the lease rate and policy, they can get put on the cue for their project again within our five year construction plan," said Ardies, who calls the conditional compliance status, one step away from non compliance, a "head scratcher."
"The solution is clear," said Ardies. "Charge the rates you have approved from 2022."
The City of Cushing is now waiting on the FAA for their final rendering for how they're going to find the city, and there is no projected timeline for resolution. Griffith calls the process "ongoing."
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