Millinocket to take over operations at airport

Town Councilors agree that Tony Cesare did an excellent job running the Millinocket Municipal Airport, but as of Aug. 1, a town worker - and not Cesare - will be the airport's fixed base operator, Chairman Wallace Paul said Wednesday.

Town Manager Eugene Conlogue plans to hire a new worker within the next few weeks to replace Cesare after councilors voted 4-2 on June 28 to reject giving Cesare the price he wanted, about $54,000 annually, Paul said.

That was simply more than the council wanted to pay, said Paul and Conlogue, who negotiated with Cesare for several weeks before the council stepped in.

"Tony had a reputation for doing a good job. That made it hard," Paul said. "If it had been only his performance we were considering, it would be a very easy decision. ... It was Gene's proposal that won."

Part of what made the decision dicey, Paul said, was Conlogue and Cesare presenting close but different projections on how much money the airport would make and need to spend to operate efficiently.

Councilors Jimmy Busque, David Cyr, Scott Gonya and Paul voted for rejecting the contract, with Bruce McLean and Matthew Polstein voting to keep Cesare.

As part of their dissent, McLean and Polstein questioned the accuracy of Conlogue's projections and thought Cesare's might be more accurate.

"The costs are understated and the revenue is overstated," McLean said Tuesday of Conlogue's numbers. He called the decision "extremely difficult."

"Tony and West Branch [Aviation LLC, Cesare's company] have done such an awesome job at the airport that it's too bad to take over the airport from a private business like that, especially when the plan doesn't guarantee the same level of efficiency as the airport once had," said McLean, a private pilot himself.

Several pilots spoke at the council meeting, praising Cesare for his service, McLean said.

"The only glimmer of hope I have in all this is that now that the town is 100 percent responsible for the airport's operation, we will put in the needed work to make it as good as it can be," McLean said.

With its nearest major competitors, airports in Bangor and Presque Isle, at least an hour away on Interstate 95, the airport's revitalization has been called a cornerstone to the area's economic revitalization, especially since the airport has a main runway that is 4,713 feet, lighted and, like its secondary 4,000-foot-long runway, can handle most light twin-jet and turbo-propeller aircraft.

If expanded to 5,500 feet, then most light jets and turbo-props can land on the main runway in bad weather. It can be expanded to 6,500 feet, which would accommodate all but large four-engine commercial jets.

Since 2005, the council has sunk about $165,000 in town and federal money into the airport to buy two hangars and other improvements crucial to the airport's growth. Grant reimbursement covered all but about $4,500 of the work.

A New Hampshire engineering firm, Hoyle, Tanner & Associates of Manchester, will start planning a 300-foot expansion to the airport's main runway to make it more accessible to small, multiengine jet traffic, improve runway visibility for pilots, and install new approach and runway lights and taxiways.

The firm also will develop a checklist of next steps that will help the council steer the airport's growth and moneymaking potential, Paul said.

The council voted unanimously in May to approve hiring the firm, although it might be several years before the Federal Aviation Administration is prepared to consider, never mind approve, airport upgrades, officials have said.

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