Council Members Deborah Hase, Chuck Trader and John Morrissey MUST GO

FU TAXPAYER SO SAYS COUNCIL MEMBERS

St. Marys votes to fund more airport studies


Two councilmen say the project wasn't supposed to cost taxpayers.

Posted: September 14, 2010 - 11:16pm

By Gordon Jackson

ST. MARYS - City Council members voted 3-2 Monday to fund a new appraisal and a separate environmental study at the site of a proposed municipal airport near Woodbine.

Councilman Sidney Howell, who voted with Greg Bird against funding the studies, said it violates a non-binding referendum question that voters approved more than two years ago. The referendum gave city officials permission to relocate the airport under the condition no local taxes are used for the project.

"It's wrong spending money when the referendum said at no cost to taxpayers," Howell said.

The studies will now consider 600 acres that city officials said will be donated by a group that is the top bidder - so far - for Sea Island Co., which has declared bankruptcy.

The appraisal will also include more than 225 acres of wetlands never considered in the initial study, city officials said. The city's share for the two studies is $1,912.

Council members Deborah Hase, Chuck Trader and John Morrissey voted in favor of the motion. Keith Post, who has consistently voted for airport relocation, didn't attend.

Before the vote, Hase defended the recommendation to use local taxpayer money to fund the studies.

"The referendum still said to move it [the airport]," she said.

Earlier this year, council members approved a resolution 4-2 to use city funds for "incidental expenses" for airport relocation. Bird said the resolution allows city officials to disregard the voters' wishes.

"They gave themselves carte blanche on moving the airport," Bird said. "They put no limits on it."

Bird asked council members to delay the vote two weeks because the city has never published a Finding of No Significant Impact study, or FONSI, in the county's legal organ as the FAA requires.

The report was never published because city officials voted to abandon airport relocation in February 2007, a month before the study was released. Eleven months later, a new city council decided to resurrect the airport relocation issue.

City Manager Bill Shanahan said the city is not required to publish the study in the county's local newspaper because it was published in a federal publication that he did not identify.

But Bird disagreed, reading from a March 2007 letter from the FAA.

"In accordance with FAA procedures, the FONSI must be made available to the public," Bird read. "The enclosed notice must be placed in a local newspaper as soon as possible and run for a minimum of three days."

Bird said it's important for the public to understand the impact a new airport could have on the environment.

"We don't know the significance of the project," Bird said. "We need to find out exactly what we're dealing with [regarding] environmental issues."

Hase disagreed, saying the FAA understands the issues surrounding the project.

"It doesn't hurt to move forward," Hase said. "We need to keep moving with this project."

gordon.jackson@jacksonville.com, (912) 729-3672

Why do you need to keep this moving, and at what cost?