North Adams May Have to Pay Towing Fee for Flipped Aircraft By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
04:16PM / Sunday, February 19, 2023 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission took no action on a $5,000 invoice regarding an airplane that needed to be towed in December after being flipped over during heavy winds.
Commission member Marc Morandi, who is responsible for approving invoices, brought the item to the full commission Tuesday wondering if the city should simply pay the invoice or seek to recoup funds.
This summer during a storm, a plane was flipped over at the airport. A towing service was called in to flip the plane right side up, and the city was left with an almost $5,000 bill.
"I am not supposed to touch aircraft," Airport Manager Bruce Groff said. "It is the responsibility of the owner. Not being able to have a conversation with him, I felt it was a danger."
Goff said he still cannot get in touch with the plane owner. He wanted to inquire about insurance information, among other things. He said his answering machine is full and although he did receive a letter sent via mail, he has not responded.
"I think we need to see if there is some insurance information. If we find out the owner has just abandoned the plane we are on the hook for that money," he said. "We really could not just leave it because it was a hazard to other airport property."
This information may be on a tie-down lease agreement, however, the city has been unable to locate it.
Currently, the plane is sitting at the airport and it is unknown if the owner is up to date on lease payments at all.
Goff also wanted updated contact information because over the winter, snow accumulation on the tail of the plane caused it to let loose. Weight of the snow caused the nose to point upwards.
Caplinger noted that the city has been pressured to pay the bill and although there were still questions, considered doing this to maintain a good relationship with the tow company Village Towing.
"I think there is some concern that the city wants to have a good relationship with the tow provider so taking care of this may be in the city's best interest," he said. "We don't want to do anything that would extinguish that."
Member William Diamond reluctantly agreed.
"I am not one to give anything away, but I think we need to pay this in good conscious," he said.
He did ask if it was possible to file a lean against the aircraft owner, but Caplinger felt this is something only the service provider could do.
Diamond also asked if it was possible for the city to take the asset or at least start that process.
Caplinger stopped this conversation reaffirming that this has not been discussed at any level. He preferred to leave such questions with the city solicitor.
Although Diamond motioned to pay the invoice it did not receive a second.
As the commission began to make more assumptions about what was in the lease agreement, Caplinger felt it might be prudent to try to retrieve it before making any decisions.
"Speculating about what the lease says just seems silly to me," he said. "I want to be able to look at the document, point at the document, and see what it says."
He also felt it may be beneficial to reach out to Village to see if they planned to recapture the money.
He added that he would prefer to talk to the mayor and the city solicitor just to see what options are truly in front of the commission.
In general, the commission felt they needed to get a better handle on what lease agreements are actually active and which ones have run out.
Airport user Mike Milazzo felt there is a disconnect and those who do the billing often don't know what needs to be billed. He felt a further investigation would find many agreements are not paid up.
Caplinger also felt that a stipulation should be added to the lease agreements that would better protect the city from repeat scenarios and clearly allow th manager to intervene in emergencies.
"I think it is important for the aircraft owner not to have the expectation that the airport manager will do a whole bunch of stuff to protect their aircraft. It is their responsibility," he said. "...but it makes sense when there is a threat to the airport property. It makes sense to formalize the right to take action."
In other business:
• Goff said he is still awaiting a maglock to secure the administrative building. Currently, it remains locked when he is not on site as it provides airside access.
The airport will get a credit card reader to streamline different fee payments.
• The commission was asked if space in the administrative building was available. It was agreed that airport, pilot, and community use should be free. Businesses should be changed a fee to use the space
• The commission was also asked about leasing office space in the building.
Caplinger asked that all requests go through Goff and added that he needs to research if an RFP process is needed.
• The commission asked Goff to explore whether people can purchase Avgas for nonaviation use. Goff said people often show up with cans to fill up with Avgas.
He said pedestrians often find their way into the high traffic area, where they should not be, to make a purchase.
The commissioners did not think this was legal and asked Goff to contact the state Department of Transportation.
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