Judge Rules Dispute Between Middletown, Start Skydiving to be Heard by Federal Court

May 25—A long-standing dispute between the City of Middletown and a skydiving business appears headed to a federal court.

On Friday, Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Gregory Howard ruled the case between the city and Start Skydiving should proceed in federal court.

Richard D. Porotsky Jr., who represents Start Skydiving, wrote that the city's suit was "baseless and improper" and the case should proceed in federal court.

He called Howard's ruling "a significant court victory" for his client.

John Hart II, co-owner of Start Skydiving, based at Middletown Regional Airport, said the judge made "the right ruling" in sending the case to a different court.

But Susan Cohen, Middletown's assistant city manager, said the ruling was "procedural in nature and does not constitute any substantive determination" on the case.

She said the city hopes to work with the court and Start Skydiving on the issues pending in both legal cases to reach a solution.

Start Skydiving filed suit against the City of Middletown in December 2020 due to the "ongoing vindictive, corrupt, and deceitful attempts" by the city and its personnel to "kick Start out of the airport and to harm its business," Porotsky Jr. wrote Friday in an email to The Journal-News.

He said the skydiving business has a 20-year lease at the airport that runs through 2029.

In a civil complaint, the city asked the court to evict Start from hangar space used by the airport manager and operator, a role Start once served. The city took over those roles from Start in 2020, so it asked Start to leave that space.

In an email that City Manager Jim Palenick sent to Hart II last year, he wrote that the city council met in executive session on Nov. 13, 2020 to provide him with direction as to "acceptable lease terms" with Start. After the council meeting, Palenick told Hart II he could no longer offer and extend all of the terms he provided in an earlier document.

Hart II said he was disappointed that city council had the authority to overrule the city manager.

Cohen said she had no comment on any specific discussions between Palenick and Start Skydiving.

However, she said, Palenick participated in "ongoing proactive discussions" to attempt to resolve the issues between Start Skydiving and the City. She said the parties were unable to reach a mutually agreeable resolution during those discussions and Start Skydiving filed legal action against the city.

Start Skydiving typically draws about 50,000 visitors to Middletown annually for recreational activity, military training and aerospace research and development, Porotsky Jr. said. He said the business has an estimated economic impact of $5 million to $10 million annually.

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