Copyright 1998. The Tuskegee News. Published Thursday, November 26, 1998
.
Something is wrong with the way the
Tuskegee City Council is handling developments at Moton Field.
Unannounced meetings, questionable decisions, a reluctance by two council members to publicly discuss the matter and a battle of
personalities are apparently involved.
At Tuesday's meeting of the Council, an airport plan that
apparently positioned the city to receive up to
$866,000 in grants for improvements at the
airport was not accepted by a 3-2 vote. The
plan would have provided a global positioning system and an updated airport layout plan. Those were already available for Moton Field.
Paving the runway was also subject to
approval.
Now that global landing system and airport
layout plan appear dead in the water, even if
the council changed its mind because a March
31, 1999 deadline exists on moving forward
for funding and requirements for the project
are such that the deadline would probably not
be met.
Funding from the Alabama Department of
Aeronautics for the global landing system and
updated airport layout plan has been avail-
able for review by the FAA since fiscal year
1996. However, because of the council's inaction on accepting the proposal from the
Department of aeronautics, the plan has not been reviewed by the FAA.
Against accepting the plan
were council president Freddie
Washington and council members Jess Colson and Lateefah Muhammad.
Voting in favor were Rozell Chappell Jr. and Mae Doris Williams.
That's where the unannounced meeting
comes in. Washington, Colson and Muham-
mad had a meeting Monday afternoon at
Muhammad's office. According to Chappell, he
and Williams were not invited to the meeting.
At that meeting a conference call was conducted with Quinton Smith of the Department of Transportation in Washington D.C. Smith
apparently led those council members present
to believe that they should pursue a $26 million grant that has been on file with the FAA
for about five years, and not accept the current plan. That $26 million plan was submitted by the Tuskegee Airport Authority
which has been in existence since 1993.
However, the Airport Authority has never
been given the deed to Moton Field, nor
does it have financial backing to providing
matching funds for grants, unless backed
up by the city. Colson said Tuesday that
someone in the previous administration
blocked the Airport Authority's request for
a $26 million grant that would provide a
10,000-foot runway for an international
cargo hub, if approved. Many believe that
plan, developed by Bobby Owens who
serves as consultant to the Airport
Authority, will not be approved.
Near the end of Tuesday's council meeting, a resolution was introduced reaffirming the Airport Authority's status to be responsible as the duly appointed, authorized and qualified entity representing the
city of Tuskegee in matters of Airport
Development and airport operations at
Moton Field. That resolution will be voted
on at a later meeting.
It appears that the Airport Authority is
seeking total control of Moton Field, and is
backed by Washington, Colson and
Muhammad in that effort. That would
include determining who is the Fixed Base
Operator (FBO), which has been Col. (Ret)
Roosevelt Lewis since 1991. Lewis has a
lease making him the FBO, but it subject
to termination if it is found he is not doing
the job properly. The Airport Authority
could make that decision, if things fall in
place as it appears they are headed.
Col. Lewis is highly respected in aviation
circles, and it would be a tremendous loss
if he lost FBO status.
Washington and Muhammad have
declined comment to the Tuskegee News
about their positions on who should be in
charge of the airport and on their Tuesday
night vote against accepting the current
plan.
When the vote was taken Tuesday, there
was no discussion when the vote was
called. Many citizens in the audience
weren't aware of exactly what was being
voted on. That's wrong and should be unacceptable to the citizens.
During the citizen's comment portion of
the meeting, Tuskegee Airman and war
hero Col. (Ret.) Herbert Carter, called
Washington, Muhammad and Colson to
task for voting against improvements to
the airport now available. He said that
when the 2000 election comes, in his opin-
ion that Moton Field will not have any
improvements and that there is no way the
FAA is going to approve a $26 million plan
for Moton Field.
"You have been misled," Col. Carter said.
"It concerns me what you have done to the
city of Tuskegee. It is wrong."
Col. Carter is right. There is something
wrong with what's going on.
Is someone in position to benefit financially by Tuesday's action? Why is it necessary for private meetings to be held? Why
was there no public discussion about such
an important vote as taken Tuesday? Why
were representatives of the Alabama
Department of Aeronautics not allowed
recently to present to the council a report
as a prelude to accepting the current plan?
Are the citizens being kept in the dark?
We think the answer is that the public
being shortchanged--even misled. Moton
Field improvements are much needed--now
when they are available, not later when it's
a matter of chance.