County, city need to find way to fund airport
I am responding to your guest opinion written by Rich Faletto (Sept. 4, Daily Bee).
I am honored and humbled to have my name included among Dr. Bird and my friend Chris (Boomer) Wilson. I cannot hold a candle to either of these two wonderful people. They are true American heroes.
Bonner County is blessed to have a wonderful asset like the airport right here in Sandpoint. The airport impact is huge to Sandpoint and Bonner County but I bet few residents even know where the airport is located.
It is quickly becoming the second largest airport employer in Idaho. Quest is producing a wonderful airplane and has more than 200 employees with plans for another 200 jobs. These are well-paying jobs for the county. The rule of thumb is; for every one person employed at the airport another 1.6 people are employed off the airport. That is another 640 jobs in Bonner County
The millions of dollars spent on salary and the money collected by government taxes help pay for our roads, schools and other county and city services. All those dollars are funneled back into the pockets of local residents and business.
During the last 30 days our airport has seen use by private aircraft and business jets, by smoke jumpers and helicopters to fight a fire near Schweitzer, and by MedStar to transport patients. It was used by Angel Flight to fly cancer patient to far away cancer clinics. The airport is used by UPS to fly overnight packages to and from Sandpoint. The airport was used by the governor of Idaho and the ex-vice president of the United States and even aided in search and rescue, We had some wel-known movie and TV stars. As you can see our little 5500 foot runway generated a lot of money and saves lives.
The airport is opened 24/7/365 to serve the county's needs. That is not to say there are not problems, there are many. The airport has a budget of $73,000 of which $ 20,000 are taxpayers dollars. This is a shoestring budget for any business but nothing to run an airport.
Most of the growth at the airport is on the west side what we call outside the fence, on city property. Most money generated by those businesses and their taxes do not flow back to the airport. This has for many years resulted in a lack of funds for repairs and up keep of the airport. Our ramps and runways are cracking with weeds growing up. Our fix base operations building (FBO) has a leaky roof and water comes through the floor and soaks the carpet every time there is a heavy rain. The FBO needs repair and paint . We need to spend the funds for a new airport manager. Mr. Jorge O' Leary has done a wonderful job as manager for 11 years at a salary of only $12,000 a year. The manager's job is 24/7. To service the community we need to find a way to fund a full time airport manager who knows airports and how to run a business. The airport is no longer a flying club but a very important business located right here in Sandpoint. We need the county to join hands with the city to find new ways to fund our airport.
The Airport Advisory Board and the Bonner County commissioners understand these problems and are working long hours to find the solution. The airport needs the support of all Bonner County .
SOL PUSEY
Airport Manager
Bonner County Airport