Cameron County may request background checks to lease airport hangars

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Sept. 30--BAYVIEW -- Cameron County is considering doing background checks on people who want to lease the new T-hangars at the Cameron County–Port Isabel Airport.

Although the Commissioners Court Legal Division is reviewing the issue to ensure the county would not infringe on the privacy, county leaders do not believe there is a problem.

"We want to know who is flying into our airport. ...," Cameron County Judge Carlos Casco said. "We don't want people who are using it to land contraband or illegal drugs. I think it is a good idea."

He added, "You don't want somebody landing there that is a potential threat to public safety. I don't see why we wouldn't be able to do it on any county property."

The Department of Homeland Security and FBI recently alerted small airports to be aware of terrorists interested in smaller airplanes and general aviation. Some suggest smaller airports are easier to access compared to larger airports where security has increased.

Several new T-hangars are for lease, and persons interested in leasing them generally want to store a small aircraft or other vehicles, Precinct 3 Commissioner David Garza said.

"We want to make sure that we are not going to have any illicit operations going on and one way to deter that is to have background checks on the individuals leasing (those spaces) from the county," Garza said.

Officials hope to decide on the background checks within the next 30 days.

Garza said officials got the idea from a similar practice at South Texas International Airport in Edinburg.

South Padre Island pilot George Woll has been storing his small airplane at another old hangar at the county airport. He's been waiting for the seven units in the new T-hangar to open so he can lease a space there.

Woll said he believes the background checks are "overkill" considering pilots already submit to other checks before they are issued a pilot's license. However, he said he does not have a problem undergoing a background check to store his aircraft at the new county hangar.

Garza said the Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport is a "destination airport" mostly used by people traveling to the area to vacation at South Padre Island. They fly to the airport, store their airplane in the hangar and then go to the Island.

"Most people that have planes and use the hangars and want to use storage facilities, they absolutely do not have problems eliminating unwanted operations where they are storing their high-price-dollar airplanes," Garza said.