Hangar owners on the hook for higher rent

The Council members pointed out that the hangars at Southworth Municipal Airport had not been inspected in many years. Mayor Jeff Martin said there was an airport commission made up of hangar owners, but they did not take part in meetings, and the airport manager didn’t attend meetings either. Clerk Carmen Newman noted the previous airport manager resigned because the position was unpaid.

After the airport manager left, Dan Knapp of the Chetek Public Works was placed in charge of managing the hangars, but Newman explained Knapp’s responsibilities leave little time for inspections and follow-up with hangar owners. “Someone needs to be willing to make contact with hangar owners and set up inspection appointments. This can’t be thrown onto Dan’s plate as he has enough to deal with as it is,” Clerk Newman said.

Council member Scott Bachowski said inspections need to be done because of the City’s liability if the lease agreement isn’t being followed. Clerk Newman agreed inspections need to be done, but explained there were concerns surrounding how the city can enforce inspections for the airport hangars considering there is no airport commission to do so, “We know there are violations out there and things that are against the lease agreement. We just need to be ready for some legal expense to support hangar compliance going forward.”

Currently, only four of the lessees are residents of Chetek while the rest live outside the city limits or out of the state.

Council member Bachowski noted the importance of the airport to Chetek, “The airport is an absolute asset to the City,” but from his perspective, the lessees know what the lease agreement says and need to abide by the guidelines set in the agreement. Bachowski did stress the importance of making amendments to the lease agreement before going forward with the hangar lease renewals, and Council member Thea Hempel also agreed, “There are too many things flying under the radar that the council needs to be kept apprised of.” The changes to the agreement mostly have to do with the language used, including direct verbage about residential use of the hangar space being prohibited. Clerk Newman commented that this residency-prohibited clause is clear in other documentation for the airport hangars.

Council members said they were willing to carry out the inspections of the hangars if need be.

It was agreed that the hangar lease renewal agenda item be tabled until the December council meeting.

Bachowski made a motion to approve the new hangar lease base agreements. Council member Earl Grover seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.

Hangar lease annual fees

The council also discussed increasing hangar lease fees. Council member Bachowski said he would like to see a 20% increase in the future, noting that between 2020 and 2021 property taxes decreased for the airport, meaning owners paid less in property taxes without an increase in their lease fees.

The current fee is $252 annually, but with the 20% increase, the cost would rise to $302.

It was noted that the current expense for the airport is around $50,000 which includes mowing, fuel and snow removal for the property. Council member Bachowski mentioned that the runway repair project will cost $23,000 with only $14,000 covered in the budget; the rest of the cost will fall to residents. Two council members were in favor of increasing hangar lease fees to help with costs, and two were in favor of keeping the fee at its current rate. Council member Bachowski told the council he felt that there needed to be more funds set aside in the budget for airport projects in the future, so residents are not left being responsible for the extra cost as they will be with the runway project in 2023.

Council member Earl Grover said he did not feel it was necessary to increase the full 20%.

Council member Bachowski made a motion to increase the fee by 20%. Hempel seconded the motion, and Council members Grover and Terry Hight opposed it. Mayor Martin was the tie-braking vote for the motion to be carried.