PLYMOUTH -- The little Cessna 152 sits in the back corner of the tarmac at the Plymouth Municipal Airport, its blue and white paint baking in the August sun.
But the airplane is more than just a neglected relic -- it is at the center of an ongoing feud over hangar rental and storage fees its owner, Stephen Engel, maintains he doesn't owe.
In a prolonged lawsuit first filed in 2005, Engel, who lives in Plymouth, is fighting to avoid paying more than $470 in both administrative fees for late hangar rental payments, and monthly charges for keeping his plane tied down since his plane was pulled from the hangar and placed on the airport's asphalt pad.
According to court records, the city brought the lawsuit against Engel in June 2005, alleging that he had failed to pay an unspecified fee that is charged pilots who rent hangar space if they do not make their monthly payments in time.
City attorney Joe Simanski, who declined to comment in detail on the pending lawsuit, did say that the fees in question stem from a rule voted into effect by the Plymouth Board of Aviation Commissioners in the 1990s.
"They adopted a policy ... that required an administrative fee in the event that someone was late with their rent payment," he said. "I believe it is $25."
But not only did Engel refuse to pay the fees, he argued that the lease he had signed for the space did not include a provision for the fees, and was even unclear on the date on which his hangar rental was due.
As the lawsuit wore on, airport employees removed the plane from the hangar in February 2006, towing it to a corner of the paved aircraft parking area and securing it to tie downs. From April of that year to June 2007, Engel has been accruing a $25-per month storage fee for his use of the space.
The total bill, including the late fees and the tie-down charges, now stands at more than $470. In a letter to Simanski, Engel's lawyer, Peter Yarbro, says his client has no intention of agreeing to the fees.
Why? Besides the contention over the terms of the lease, Yarbro asserts that other users of the airport are not assessed the "tie-down" fees, and wrote that the city only started assessing the fees after Engel filed a countersuit against the city to force the return of a set of keys to the plane that were held by the city.
"The only explanation for this disparate and arbitrary action appears to be another attempt to intimidate, harass, and otherwise retaliate against (Engel)," he wrote. "Also, please be advised that (Engel) has no intention of moving his airplane and that he will make use of Plymouth Airport in whatever lawful way he sees fit."
The next step will come Sept. 17, when both sides will gather for a final pre-trial conference. In the meantime, the Cessna will continue to sit in the corner of the airport.
To airport manager Ron Ritter, that's one of the saddest parts of the whole affair.
"Poor thing probably hasn't turned a prop in years," he said. "I go out there and check on it all the time, just to make sure no one has damaged it or stolen anything. But sitting out there isn't too good for it."
Staff writer Adam Jackson
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