The Heart of Georgia Regional Airport Authority met on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, and elected a new chairman and secretary/treasurer.
When the Eastman/Dodge Development Authority appointed two new members to the airport authority on May 13, the current chairman Eddie Driggers and board member Jack Burnham were replaced with Butch Kirkley and Phil Bearden.
Airport board vice chairman John Clements brought the meeting to order and after approving previous meeting minutes, board member Bobby Slye commented that he was concerned about the legality of the appointments of Bearden and Kirkley. Slye stated that the board members were put on the board for four year terms and the legislation that passed last year only addressed the number of members (from four to seven) and said nothing about term limits. He said he believed that the board members still were appointed for a four year term and the airport board should wait to appoint anyone to a board or other until the airport board could get a legal opinion on the matter.
New board member Butch Kirkley stated that legislative council said that just the opposite was true from what Slye stated and that the members now served at the discretion of the appointing person or board. After more discussion, Clements nominated Steve Greer for chairman and it was seconded by Terry Niblett. Being there were no other nominations, the nominations were closed and all voted in favor of Greer as chairman.
Then Clements asked for nominations for secretary/treasurer were taken. Terry Niblett nominated Bearden. Bearden spoke up and said that if nominated, he would not serve as secretary/treasurer. Clements then nominated Terry Niblett. Niblett stated that he would rather not. The motion was seconded and all voted in favor.
Steve Greer then took over control of the meeting.
Greer started off by acknowledging past board members for their service to the community for the job they had done and asked that all the boards and authorities begin working together for the betterment of Dodge County.
After hearing some other business, Greer told the board members that the sale of the river property had been closed by himself and Clements to Frank Walthal for $126,608.00.
Then, the business of appointing members to the Dodge County/Eastman Development Authority was brought up. The board would appoint one of their members and a citizen from Dodge County to the development authority.
Kirkley made the motion that the board appoint Bearden as the board appointee and Dennis Giddens as the citizen appointee. The motion was seconded by Niblett. Three board members, Kirkley, Niblett and Bearden voted for the motion. Three board members, Slye, Clements and Lamar Marshall voted against the motion. Chairman Greer broke the tie and voted against the motion stating that he believed that someone with knowledge of the airport, such as a pilot, should be appointed.
Slye then made the motion that Clements be appointed as the board member and Dennis Giddens be appointed as the citizen. Marshall seconded the motion. Three members, Slye, Clements and Marshall, voted in favor of the motion. Three members, Kirkley, Bearden and Niblett voted against the motion. Once again, chairman Greer had to break the tie and voted in favor of the motion. Clements and Dennis will replace Jack Burnham and H. Peacock.
Greer then went on to discuss the agreement the airport authority has with Langstaff Law, of Albany, concerning the lawsuit between the authority and Citizens Bank and Trust Company, the Bank of Eastman and Colony Bank.
Greer stated that the airport authority had already paid the attorneys $25,375.00 for litigation expenses already incurred. He then said that the contract stated that if the airport authority dismissed the law firm of Langstaff Law due to any reason, the authority would have to pay all unpaid expenses and services which would be to pay the greater of the following: 1. $450.00 per hour for any time the attorneys had in unpaid expenses and services or: 2. An applicable percentage of fees to the attorneys for any offers made by an adversary or collateral party.
Greer also stated that if the lawsuit continues and is lost, the airport authority owes the attorneys nothing. Also, if the lawsuit continues and is won, the airport authority owes the attorneys nothing.
But, he said, if the airport authority votes to stop the litigation, the authority would probably face a substantial bill to the attorneys, which could bankrupt the airport authority.
In other business, a motion was made by Clements and seconded by Niblett to move the airport authority meetings from the second Tuesday in the month at 6:00 p.m. to the second Thursday in each month at 6:00 p.m. The motion was passed unanimously. The new meeting time will begin with the June 2013 meeting.
Airport manager Jeff Fordham told the board that the airport currently owed Perry Brothers (their fuel supplier), $124,548.86. The board voted to send Perry Brothers a check for $100,000.00 from the proceeds of the river land sale.
At some point when it is time to start talking about legal matters in executive sessions, the conflict of interest will arise. If that is the case the board and their lawyer should just discuss everything during the meeting before the public. Can it really be expected that Butch can be barred from discussing anything that he hears with the legal team for the banks?
Right now, someone would be an idiot to try to cancel the lawsuit knowing that a alleged $100,000+ price tag would fall on the taxpayers by way of the HOGRAA. Whoever would serve as the face for killing that lawsuit would clear some major debts off of their ledger of owed favors. But I don't think there is enough loyalty to go around for a group to kill it from the shadows and remain anonymous. They may be damned if they do and damned if they don't, but let's see what a judge has to say about it.
This old man has experienced a great deal in his years. One of those things is our government rightfully allows people to be innocent until proven guilty. The other is that not every gossiper can and is willing to be a witness.
YES, THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT! BUTCH KIRKLEY REPRESENTS THE BANKS. NO, HE CAN'T HEAR OR VOTE ON ANY MATTERS TO DO WITH THE LAW SUIT.DUH!
This is the only way this county will know the truth. If all those guys who were on the old board have nothing to hide, including Rep Jimmy Pruett, then what are they so worried about?
I don't know the details but it seems like the only folks around town who talk about stopping the suit are somehow tied up with the banks in some way.
Who is to say the airport board isn't correct? If Rep Pruett can hide paying property taxes for 10 years, who knows what else he is hiding.
See you all in court!!!!
Quite frankly, I was disappointed at the removal of Mr. Driggers. In working with him since Sept 2012, I've been very impressed with his dedication to the airport and insistence on following the rule of law. Unfortunately, he noticed an issue regarding a $720K loan that was moving the HGRAA deep into the red with each passing month. I applaud his integrity and desire to ensure the survivability of the airport.
I think we all might be hard pressed to find a more dedicated public servant willing to serve without compensation.
Greer, Kirkley, Nibbett,and Bearden, you guys have a more business presence about yourselves. Please develop the fiscal control that organization desperately needs. Through the assistance of the Airport's service partners, capital projects have been meticulously outlined for the next two years if not farther out. But when it comes to the finances, the Airport is flying by the seat of its pants!
Thankfully, the airport does not need any loans at this time. Recently they chose to sell an asset off to be able to knock out their 100,000+ fuel cost that they owed. It is what was needed but if you keep selling off assets at some point they may not have any left for that maneuver.
So like I said before I encourage the newer members of the board to tighten the fiscal controls of the airport and clear up that matter of the airport not really adhering to an operating budget.
Get real my anonymous friend and get your facts correct.
Just call me John Boy
So you think that meeting was about bringing those unfinished audits to the light of day. That would be a good move for the new Greer lead authority and a good way for Steven to continue transforming the culture of the HOGRAA.
Tried to give development authority control over the airport to vote down the law suit against the banks...VETOED.
Tried to get court order stop river land sale...OVER RULED.
Tried to intimidate airport authority members to vote down law suit...FAILED.
Tried to replace county commissioner's appointee...STOPPED.
Tried to stack the airport authority with "Yes" men to vote down the law suit...BLOCKED.
Justice is coming soon...count on it!
Fuel bill and fuel in ground not paid for...CHECK
No new projected...CHECK
Unreal attorney fees...TO BE PAID BY TAXPAYER
Sold all available assets...NOTHING LEFT TO SELL
All that is left is for the fat lady to sing...GO FOR IT
This is what I heard Mr. Rogers tell everyone at the last meeting.
The rest of the issues you listed are a direct result of the halted audit in 2009 and the past authority members forcing the airport to accept the third party debt from the Canadian guy who went bankrupt.
Just for the record, Mr. Pruett does not in any way determine how I vote. He has not attempted to influence my vote and I don't suspect that he ever will.
I appreciate the confidence he placed in me with the appointment and will continue to strive to represent him, you, and the rest of the citizens of Dodge County to the best of my ability.
I invite you and all others commenting on this blog to attend our meetings. We value you input and concern.
Thank you,
Steve Greer
Chair, HGRAA
Maybe one day down the road he falls into the trappings of not challenging the status quo, begins to let everyone know that he makes the rules, and the body that appointed him to his position thanks him for his service and asks him to step down. Hopefully, it will never come to that point again and the HOGRAA Chair, Mr. Greer, will continue leading and moving the authority forward.
When you get the bill for the Airport Authority attorneys (which they have no clue how much the charges total) and you, as a taxpayer, get to pay it (cause they have wsold all their assets), let's see who you trust then.
Then the costs will really go up if the banks win and then sue the airport authority members for the banks attorneys fees.
The bottom line is no one in Dodge County will win because of this lawsuit.
Fly Boy
Are you in favor of mediation or are you of the opinion that it's okay to violate the law as long as you don't get caught?
In this case, it appears as if someone got caught doing something they should not have done. Otherwise, the airport attorney's probably wouldn't have taken the case on contingency. Furthermore, it appears that Mr. Greer and the airport board members must believe they have a decent case or why would they vote to enter into mediation? (see video on Eastman examiner web page). Why didn't they just vote to drop the law suit?
Law suit won't help our county progress. I agree. Would you rather the airport help cover up possible wrong doing or would you rather let the truth be known by all citizens? Cannot have it both ways.
As a taxpayer I don't want to see my taxes raised to pay for any high priced attorney. But, this has gone on for many years now and we all deserve to know the truth no matter who might be involved.
I agree with TownCryer comments above and hope that when it's all over, someone publishes the facts.
Mediation is great, would have been better before the attorneys got involved. But you act as if the airport authority attorney from Albany is just doing this with the potential of getting paid by the banks if he wins. What about all the money he received to take the case. And what is he charging per hour?
How many hours has he kept a record of that he has worked on this case?
Our community did not go to Canada and recruit this guy. He was brought here by the head of the GA Dept of Industry, Trade and Tourism along with the former Speaker.
Hopefully the current airport authority and the banks can mediate a resolution to this problem. Even if they do, economic development is going to be a lot tougher for many years to come. You can count on that.
Fly Boy
As to the question of what he charges per hour. Does it matter? As to your question about keeping records of the time he worked on the case...do you know any lawyers who don't keep good records?
As to who brought the Canadian guy to Eastman. Does that matter? No, what matters is it sounds like the banks decided to let the airport suck up the bad debt from this Canadian fella who went under. If that is true, that doesn't sit well with me and many others in this town.
What I want to know is the truth. I expect we will know the truth soon enough.
The banks didn't want to negotiate, mediate, or talk to anyone about the $720,000 bad debt note. WHY? Because it was all a fraud to begin with.
Just because the people in question are upstanding citizens in our community DOES NOT entitle them to a free pass. If they broke the law, they broke the law. Covering for them only makes you part of the problem.
The airport board tried for more than a year according to the letters provided to the newspaper to get the banks to cooperate. Kirkley, Sheffield, Jessup, and many others didn't want to listen. They all think it's okay for the airport to pay off the failed loan from the airplane builder. Some of the airport board members who signed off on this bogus deal were also on the CB&T board of directors, including Pruett. So, the airport takes on a debt that it looks like the banks didn't want to write off. But the debt had nothing to do with the airport. Does that sound fair?
None of us want to pay another persons debt. Why should the airport have to?
If the banks had nothing to hide, they would have gotten this taken care of long ago. I only wish the airport would have stuck to their guns and settled in in court so we all can see who the guilty parties are in our fair town. Mediation sounds like the banks are hiding something. I suspect there are a lot of people out there hoping this whole thing never gets to court.
I'm sorry Fly Boy, but right is right and wrong is wrong.
I am not saying I have a solution but it do think we need to stop trying to criminalize this situation. I have seen no proof of any conspiracy and if there was one, the individual defendants should never have been released by the Authority suit.
The main thing I am trying to say is lets get past all the rhetoric and try to move this community forward. The effect of this lawsuit has been to cause fighting between government agencies who should be working together; hurtful accusations with no proof of anything; and great general discord. Look nobody is perfect. This whole situation is unfortunate for everybody. As far as the mediation goes, I wish that had been done first but now that it has gone on this far, I would sort of like to see some clear resolution which may not be resolved by closed door mediation. I do want the whole thing behind us but after all this, I would like to know what the real story is. However I do believe that everybody could have been acting in good faith. After all, the people were relying on the lawyers. What if the Lawyers were the ones who were wrong. Lets consider giving the people who have worked for this community, on both sides of this issue, the benefit of the doubt and believe that they intended to do the right thing and either got bad advice or simply made a mistake. let's stop the character assignation and help this community move forward.
I am not saying I have a solution but it do think we need to stop trying to criminalize this situation. I have seen no proof of any conspiracy and if there was one, the individual defendants should never have been released by the Authority suit.
The main thing I am trying to say is lets get past all the rhetoric and try to move this community forward. The effect of this lawsuit has been to cause fighting between government agencies who should be working together; hurtful accusations with no proof of anything; and great general discord. Look nobody is perfect. This whole situation is unfortunate for everybody. As far as the mediation goes, I wish that had been done first but now that it has gone on this far, I would sort of like to see some clear resolution which may not be resolved by closed door mediation. I do want the whole thing behind us but after all this, I would like to know what the real story is. However I do believe that everybody could have been acting in good faith. After all, the people were relying on the lawyers. What if the Lawyers were the ones who were wrong. Lets consider giving the people who have worked for this community, on both sides of this issue, the benefit of the doubt and believe that they intended to do the right thing and either got bad advice or simply made a mistake. let's stop the character assignation and help this community move forward.
I'm going to put on my forgiving hat and say that the previous board made a decision without checking their FAA rule book or making a call for clarification. I won't join everyone in calling for heads because of illegal doings. Nevertheless, ignorance of the rules is no justification for breaking the rules in this situation.
Hopefully this goes ahead to trial and a judge can get the airport off the hook for the loan. Hopefully this will happen sooner than later so that the airport can pocket lease money from DPS. Hopefully with the increased revenue the airport will be able to assist DPS with the expansions they need to keep them in Dodge County.