2nd group seeks deal city offered on 61S airport
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 22, 2003
[10/22/03]A second former plaintiff in the five-year lawsuit to keep the Vicksburg Municipal Airport open has approached the city about taking over its operations.
Roy Strickland, a stockholder in Canufly.Net, and Michael Nassour, president of the Internet company and owner of Nassour Aviation, say they would take the same deal previously offered by the city board to Houston-based Rowan Companies Inc., the parent company of LeTourneau, to take over the airport on U.S. 61 South as contract managers. Rowan has turned down the offer to lease the airport for $1 a year, and company officials have stated they will shut down the local offshore oil rig-manufacturing operations if city officials close the municipal airport.
“We want to keep general aviation here in Vicksburg and keep the money where it belongs,” said Nassour.
He was among the plaintiffs, including LeTourneau, who sued the city in 1998 following a 2-1 vote to close the municipal airport in favor of the newer regional airport in Mound. The Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the city could close the municipal airport and lifted a court-ordered injunction that had kept it open.
Since July 1, the airport, officially designated VKS, has been under city control and operated on a month-to-month basis under contract with the manager who ran it during the court proceedings.
Mayor Laurence Leyens said the city is interested in a deal with Strickland and Nassour, but will not seek a $650,000 state grant for airport improvements without a written release from the other owners of the Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport. A public hearing for the Community Development Block Grant will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall Annex.
“We’ll certainly entertain any offer to lease or purchase that airport and keep that asset available to the public,” Leyens said. “But we are not applying for any money until the plaintiffs pay what they owe, drop their lawsuit and we are relieved from that agreement.”
Leyens maintains that under the current agreement concerning VTR, Vicksburg is prohibited from funding the municipal airport and must vote to close it as soon as possible. That contract among Vicksburg, Warren County, Tallulah and Madison Parish, the four owners of VTR, would have to be amended before the city can even seek the grant, according to city attorneys.
Leyens said the Louisiana government owners of VTR have given verbal OKs to seeking the funds, but that the city wants it in writing. He said even with the money, the airport is still in need of $3 million to bring it up to Federal Aviation Administration standards.
“This grant money is just really a Band-Aid,” Leyens said.
Strickland, a pilot who uses the municipal airport, said the amount needed for VKS will depend on its future use and that it may be a lot less if it continues to be limited primarily to private aircraft. He said the airport also generates enough revenue to be self-sufficient, unlike VTR, which requires monthly supplements from its four owners.
“I realize there’s a lot of big boys playing around behind this, but somebody’s got to step up to the plate and be honest about what is going on,” Strickland said.
LeTourneau, which has been the main public player in the airport debate since the Supreme Court decision, has taken the position it needs the nearby Vicksburg Municipal and its runway rated for higher weights to accommodate company planes. CEO Danny McNease has indicated the company will close its plant off U.S. 61 South laying off about 1,000 employees, unless an arrangement can be made to keep the airport open. Last week, the plant began construction of its latest rig, which is expected to take about three years to build.