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Airport manager's turbulent rideThis article was originally published in the the Amador Ledger Dispatch on August 20, 1999, and is reproduced here with its permission. By Sean Barry SUTTER HILL—Fred Honnold knew a lot about flying and a lot about management when he took charge of the county airport a year ago. But he didn't know anything about federal laws on underground gas tanks. He says he wasn't told about them when he applied for the job, and there appears to be no dispute about that. Maybe he should've known, he says. A series of problems related to the tanks has plagued Honnold. And regardless of whether he should've looked into things a little harder, it is plain that the county officials and others are responsible for dubious decisions, poor oversight and misinformation. Honnold recently exercised a severance clause in his open-ended contract with the Board of Supervisors, canceling it as of Aug. 5. Honnold calls attention to the good things at Westover Field, like the wealth of projects completed in the past few weeks, mostly paid for by federal and state grants. He says he's "proud" of what he's accomplished, and he doesn't point fingers when it comes to misfortune. "I don't have a bone to pick," he said. "I'm a grown man. I should have known better." Honnold replaced Tilden "Dave" Richards, who was manager for 14 years, retiring in August 1998. In 1988, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set a 10-year deadline—Dec. 22, 1998—for removal or upgrade of single-walled underground tanks like those at the airport. Richards retired six months before the deadline as the old tanks remained untouched. The manager of the county-owned airport is a contract position, compensated both by a base salary and profits from airplane fuel sales. Honnold says fuel sales account for nearly half of the income. Under the best circumstances, Honnold says, replacing or upgrading the tanks would have taken one to two months—requiring a temporary stoppage of fuel sales, and thus costing the manager income. County officials, administrators and Richards had known for years about the looming tank deadline. But the contract to get the job done wasn't inked until a week before Honnold's arrival. Among other hang-ups, Honnold says he had to scale the project back for financial reasons. The "change order" to the contract—giving the actual go-ahead—wasn't signed until November 1998. Rain delayed work for months, and the installation of the new tanks was completed just a week ago. In his first few days on the job, as Honnold learned what was going on, he sought specific advice about the tanks. He says he was told by Trevor Mottishaw, county general services administrator, that he could sell whatever gasoline was in the tanks after Dec. 22, as long as he didn't refill the tanks. Mottishaw confirms he said that. Supervisor Richard Vinson says he was under the same understanding as Mottishaw at that time. But early this past February, county Environmental Health officials ordered the tanks shut down. State Environmental Protection agency officials became involved. As of yet, no penalties have been levied. That issue notwithstanding, officials agree that the process of replacing the tanks should have begun a lot sooner. No one's in any hurry to take responsibility, although supervisor Richard Vinson cites "miscommunication," and he admits not paying close attention. But Vinson says he talked to Richards three years ago about the deadline, and gave him pamphlets on various new tanks. Also a few years ago, as Mottishaw set out to replace underground tanks. As a result, Mottishaw didn't include the airport tanks when he put the project out to bid. Mottishaw said he wasn't responsible for the airport tanks' timely completion. The county owns the tanks, but Mottishaw says he doesn't have jurisdiction. He says he replaced the corporation yard tanks simply because they serve county vehicles, which he's responsible for. Richards was the "legal operator" of the airport tanks, said Mottishaw, noting that the manager is a contract employee. "It was the airport manager's decision," he said. County Environmental Health Director Mike Israel says he has regulatory authority over the tanks, but nothing to do with getting them replaced. He says his department had been customarily informing operators of underground tanks about the law, and he figures Richards was told. Richards has been in Wisconsin for the past several days, said his wife, Sue Richards. He's been unavailable for comment. Vinson said, "I don't want to say Tilden dropped the ball. I'm not sure he did." Honnold, a pilot who lives in Pine Grove with his wife Sandy, quit an $80,000-per-year job with Media One cable TV to take over as airport manager. He never expected to do that well at the airport, but he figures he's lost about $12,000 in the past six months because of the stoppage of fuel sales. But a bureaucratic twist has added insult to injury. Honnold sought a state grant to replace the tanks, but since he's a non-county employee—making a profit off fuel sales—the state rejected the application. In order to get the money, the county had to take over fuel sales, which it did two weeks ago. That was Honnold's idea, because the tanks wouldn't otherwise get installed; the airport didn't have the money and it isn't subsidized by the county. With no possibility of future profits from fuel sales, Honnold canceled his contract. However, he's resubmitted a bid for the position—a bit higher than the last one. There are five other bidders. Copyright © 1999 Amador Ledger Dispatch |
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