When the county asked local attorney Ed Marger to serve as the chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee, they found someone with a lifetime of aviation experience, but may be getting more than they bargained for.
Marger said earlier this month that about 20 years ago he served as the chairman of the Fulton County Citizens Airport Advisory Committee. His group produced a report over two inches thick listing numerous safety, security and financial problems at the Charlie Brown Airport.
Damon Howell / Photo
|
| Airport Advisory Committee Chairman Ed Marger with his Piper Comanche that is based at the Pickens County Airport. The local attorney has put in over 8,000 hours as a pilot and has been involved in may facets of aviation. |
"That was the last time they ever used a citizens group at that airport as far as I know," he said.
Now after spending 16 years in a house directly adjacent to the airport, Marger finds himself in the same role.
The chairman says he supports the current airport expansion / tech park proposal, but won’t hesitate to disagree later if plans don’t develop satisfactorily and he already has a list of problems which need to be addressed at the airport.
"I have no interest in politics," he said, "I told the commissioner right now I support your plans, but if I disagree later, I’m going to say so."
At present the airport costs the county about $40,000 a year while bringing in some revenue to offset a portion of the expenses, but there is a wealth of untapped potential waiting on a proper plan, Marger said.
"We have gas pumps that work 50 percent of the time, no jet fuel, a terminal which will house two cats and four people, but a very fine lighted 5,000 foot runway," he said.
With county plans for hangers to serve both private pilots and businesses, Marger, who once owned two Caribbean airlines in the late 1960’s, said the county is taking a realistic approach to attracting aviation related business.
In addition to owning airlines, Marger as an attorney once represented the companies operating at the Ft. Lauderdale airport and saw that facility grow from a small airport to an international airport.
While he doesn’t believe Pickens will ever attain even a "regional airport" level of use, he does foresee it operating successfully as many other smaller airports in metro areas do.
Not including Hartsfield, seven other airports serve the metro area as "feeder" airports.
"These airports have all done very well in attracting businesses which are upscale and clean to the community where they are located," he said.
Seconding plans presented by the commissioner and economic development director, Marger said the trends already making the other airports successful will accelerate.
"People are tired of needing to travel 500 miles, but having to wait in security lines for three hours to get on a plane." he said.
The county’s plans point out that having company jets for Atlanta businesses based at the Pickens airport would bring in a substantial amount of property taxes as the jets are generally priced $4 million or more and are taxed the same rates as homes.
Marger said there are two avenues for business development at the airport, both of which the county has plans to address.
First, the county will sell some of the property they purchased to companies with direct access to the taxiways, so these companies would load or unload planes directly from their offices. The county will also sell other lots in the area, but without runway access.
Marger described the current business use of the airport as "fairly negligible," but felt the airport would support several operators and would attract more business jets if a jet fuel operation was established.
"Company CEO’s will expect more efficient facilities, " he said. "They’ll need to be able to re-fuel jets there."
As to the hangars, Marger said the current need for more hanger space is "dire."
"Any hangar that comes up for sale there, is immediately bought," he said.
One goal of the airport advisory committee is to attract as many as possible of the 40 plane owners who are currently using Mathis Field in Forsyth, which may be closed soon. "We may have to park them on the grass, but we’ll find room for them," he said. Each plane parked there will pay a certain monthly amount for a tie down.
The county has plans to take some of the property it purchased adjacent to the airport and build hangars they can then lease.
Previously, the county leased the property and let the lessors build their own building. According to the county, this may have served the needs at the time, but isn’t particularly profitable, or efficient use of the land.
Marger said there are some downsides that need to be considered and some improvements which must be made to the airport before these plans can get very far.
Primarily, further extension of the runway.
According to Marger who has more than 8,000 hours experience as a pilot including numerous trips across the North Atlantic delivering single engine plans from factories to buyers, the current runway is insufficient for all but small jets.
"I have lobbied for years to extend the runway to 5,500 feet," he said. "The 5,000 feet is only big enough for small jets."
Marger also cited a better terminal, better instrument landing systems and a more secure facility as changes that will have to be made.
"These changes won’t come overnight," he said. "They can be made as income comes into the airport."
Another issue for the community is the noise a busy airport could generate. Marger said he has lived by the airport for 16 years and the sounds of planes coming in and taking off has never bothered him.
"My wife and I are both pilots so the sound of planes is music to our ears," he said.
He said even with the expansion, the airport still wouldn’t produce any more noise than big trucks on a busy road.
He thought the expansion wouldn’t raise the noise level any more than two or three percent over the current levels.
The airport advisory committee will meet next on March 22 at 7 p.m. in the courthouse annex. The public is invited.