Lock Haven council hears airport tenants' concerns as 2024 budget proposes $45,000 for Avgas purchases

Lock Haven City Council on Dec. 11 heard extended public comment from airport tenants who said the budget narrative understates what individual tenants pay and urged clearer cash management to preserve fuel sales.

Alan Hulip, an airport tenant who said he owns commercial property and rents space at Piper Memorial Airport, told the council that aggregated depreciation figures in the budget overstate the airport’s cash losses and that fuel sales are essential to keeping tenants. "If we take depreciation out ... it's $8,000 a year," Hulip said, urging council to preserve fuel operations so tenants and customers do not leave.

City staff responded that rent revenue in the budget is shown in aggregate by hangar line items rather than as per-tenant entries, and that the city's figures are produced by the airport clerk and audited annually. The city reported the airport fund had an opening cash balance deficit for 2023 and that the $45,000 shown in the updated packet represents an allocation to purchase 100LL Avgas (low-lead aviation gasoline) to restart or sustain fuel resale operations.

The budget presentation indicated the airport fund is proposed to increase from $224,000 to $282,000 for 2024, including transfers of about $88,000 from the general fund. Staff said the $45,000 purchase represents roughly half the six-year average annual purchase of Avgas and that the city will manage fuel purchases within its existing cash-account structure.

Council and public speakers debated alternatives for supporting airport operations, including modest increases in hangar rents, use of hotel-tax revenue to subsidize the airport, and stronger cash-management rules to permit the airport to buy inventory and resell it. A council member called for collaborative, face-to-face meetings between airport tenants and the airport committee to improve communication.

The council did not adopt the budget that night; staff said adoption could occur the following week after members review updated millage options and allocations. In the meantime, council approved a separate motion later in the meeting to authorize entering temporary easements (see "Actions"), a procedural vote tied to a different agenda item.