Board tables decision on hangar sale after questions about relocation and utilities

At a board meeting, members tabled a request from a prospective buyer, Paul Mona, to assume a lease for Hangar 37 South 3 West so Mona can attend and provide additional technical and financing details. Board members said Mona had conditioned any purchase on the city relocating the hangar and wanted clarity on who would pay for site preparation and utility work.

The board heard that the existing lease (most recently assigned in 2024 to William Johnston) contains language allowing the city “to move that hangar, at the city's expense,” but multiple members said the lease does not explicitly cover site-preparation costs such as concrete pads or soil mitigation. “The lease says that the city pays to move the hanger if the city wants to move it,” said a committee member responsible for the agenda item, noting that the lease also requires the city to provide a comparable new location and facilities.

Members flagged operational and safety concerns about the hangar’s current location, south of the main taxiway. One board member said relocation would likely free up space for transient tie-downs and improve visibility, while others cautioned that the particular building’s foundation—steel rails embedded in concrete—makes moving it more complicated and expensive than simply unbolting a structure with a flat pad.

Board members also discussed a separate request from the prospective buyer to pave or chip-seal access to the hangar at his expense if the city declined to relocate the building. Staff warned paving could affect drainage and that current settlement and soils testing at the airport could change engineering recommendations; members advised Mona should consult public works and engineers before proceeding.

During related utility work for the airport’s AWOS, contractors discovered and severed an unauthorized power line routed through the hangar; the board noted the lack of an authorized circuit and said the loss of power will factor into a buyer’s decision. “It was an unauthorized power line,” a board member said, adding that the hangar is now without power and that the city would not replace unauthorized wiring.

Because Mona was absent (members said he had a family funeral) and the technical questions remain, a board member moved to table the item pending Mona’s attendance and further input from public works and airport staff. The motion to table passed with the board’s approval.

Next steps: the board will return the item after Mona attends or supplies additional written materials and after staff provides clarifications on drainage, soil mitigation, and the scope of any city-paid relocation work.