VACAVILLE - The major flight training and service provider at Nut Tree Airport is being evicted.
Blue Ridge Aeronautics owes more than $53,000 in back rent and failed to address a 30-day notice served July 27, said Pam Ogle, interim director of the Solano County General Services Department, which governs airport operations.
Doors to the company's offices and hangar have been locked and a hand-written note in the window says the buildings are "temporarily closed."
Ogle said the company, which offers a flight school, mechanics and other services, owes the county some $53,266 for rental of office and hangar space as well as 2 percent of its gross revenues.
Nut Tree Airport Manager Andy Swanson said the eviction was something any landlord would do when a tenant doesn't pay rent.
Lou Tobin, CEO and president of Blue Ridge for eight years, said in a telephone interview Friday that he had been on vacation in Wisconsin for two weeks and had just heard about the eviction.
He said he knew the matter was to be brought before the Solano County Board of Supervisors, but he said he spoke with a county employee about being out of state on July 24 and assumed the item would be delayed.
It was at the July 24 meeting that the supervisors voted to cancel the agreement and the lease with Blue Ridge.
"I'm going to be working on this. When we get it all worked out, it will be paid. There's no question in my mind," Tobin said.
Ogle said she isn't sure Tobin will have another opportunity to pay the money and continue to do business at the local airport.
Tobin said the dispute centers around construction at the airport in September. For five or six months, his customers had little or no access to the parking lot and building. "We were basically out of business," he said.
He said his company also moved planes to help construction crews.
Because of the Tobin's inconveniences and the services he provided, he said, the county agreed to provide some financial concessions. Both Ogle and Swanson said they have no knowledge of any such agreement or even of discussions along those lines.
