Operations at Addison airport to continue

ADDISON    - After a lengthy period of uncertainty regarding the future of the Addison municipal airport, an agreement has been reached and a new non-profit formed, which is leasing the airport from the town, in order to continue its operation.
State, county and town officials recently gathered at the airport , located off of Sardis-Airport Road, to celebrate this partnership.  Those attending included State Senate Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, State Representative Tim Wadsworth, staff from the Wallace State Community College Aviation Department, Winston County Commission, Addison Town Council and members of the newly formed foundation, which has worked out a 10-year lease with the town.
The Addison Town Council approved the terms of the lease with those who have formed a new 501(c)(3) organization known as Boone Creek Aviation Foundation, at the council’s regular meeting in September. 
The foundation will pay the town $500 a year for the 10-year term of the lease, officials said.
The town had been literally up in the air about what to do with the airport, wanting to remove themselves from the liability of keeping it open, while finding someone who would keep it open at a cost separate from the town.
“It was a financial burden to the citizens,” stressed Town Council Member Jordan Lee, who gathered at the airport on September 19, along with other officials to celebrate the new lease agreement.
“These people have stepped in and I think they will do a fabulous job,” Lee added. “They are good people and they have a lot of good aviation connections.”
During the months of uncertainty, the town had sought advice from its attorney, Shane Cook and an attorney general’s opinion to get options on leasing or selling the airport to a different entity or shutting it down, town officials have said.
The council voted unanimously in favor of the terms of the lease, including Lee, Randy Powell, Scott Flynn, George Palmer and Randy White.
“We were not in it to get any money,” Lee noted. “We’ve got to do what is best for the town.  These people (on the new committee) they live here. They wanted to keep the airport and we wanted to keep an airport.
“We had to make a decision on what is best for everybody,” Lee added.  “We’re thankful for  everybody coming to an agreement. We’re thankful they are willing to take on the airport and keep it an airport.”

Wadsworth, Gudger instrumental in forming foundation

Wadsworth was instrumental, along with Gudger in getting the airport foundation formed.
“Initially, it was an entire group of community members, city officials, elected officials, aviation folks here, who worked together to keep the airport operating,” Wadsworth explained.
Wadsworth helped to form the non-profit organization, consisting of seven members who have vested interest in the airport, he said.
Aside from their yearly lease payments to the town, Boone Creek Aviation is responsible for paying insurance costs and tmaintaining the airport, according to Wadsworth.
“This will allow Boone Creek Aviation, because they are non-profit, to apply for various grants, that will make it where they can make some improvements to the airport,” Wadsworth said.
Gudger described the meeting of officials and new foundation members as a day of celebration.
Gudger and Wadsworth compiled legal documents and found ways of working in unity to keep the airport fully operational, Gudger said.
“We’re able to celebrate the fact we don’t have to close the airport,” Gudger stated. 
“That includes passengers traveling. That includes economic development. That includes expansions of economic development and future revenue hopefully coming back into this area, whether it’s a new hangar or company that has to bring a CEO.
“It’s nice when you have access to aviation,” Gudger continued. “Most communities don’t, but this county has one, and it stayed open.  We are proud of it.”

Boone Creek Aviation members excited for airport’s future

Randy Wisener, who owns 3.5 acres of property that adjoins the airport, had been trying to negotiate a lease for the airport with the town council, but at first they could not reach a solid agreement.
Wisener, who is now president of Boone Creek Aviation, used the Addison airport to fly in and out before he moved to the area, in order to be able to land on a grass field, he said.
“Everybody that was associated with the airport, everybody who has airplanes  out here or who lives next to the airport, we were totally against the airport being shut down,” Wisener pointed out.
“We were doing everything in our power to save the airport at any cost,” Wisener added. “Finally, we were able to come to a resolution where we could lease it from the town.  We are very happy that we were able to do that.
“We didn’t want to lose an asset in Winston County,” Wisener continued. 
The  non-profit foundation was a means by which the concerned plane owners or affected property owners could obtain a lease from the town, Wisener explained.
“Since then, we have acquired  the insurance for the runway,” he stated. “We’re going to have to self-fund, minus any grants we will be able to get. We’ll probably try to do some fundraisers, some fly-ins or maybe some raffles.
“We’d like to get enough fundraising activities going, that we would hope, maybe in the future at some point, to offer a small scholarship to Wallace State,” Wisener continued. “Anything we can do to give back to the community, we’d love to do it.”
Powell, a council member who also owns a plane at the airport and is a member of Boone Creek Aviation Foundation, noted the town would have faced closing the airport had the foundation not been formed.
“It’s a great thing for the community,” said Powell. “The community goes way beyond Addison. Before I had a plane, (the airport) was a big deal.”
Powell explained the municipal airport, through the years, had been the site of fly-ins.
“One time, we had 40 airplanes come here. We’ve had 30 airplanes come here,” Powell added. “It’s amazing to see that many planes on a strip this small.
“It is going to continue to be an airport,” Powell pointed out. “It’s been a worrisome thing thinking about what might happen.”
Chris Tyree, who has owned an airplane at the Addison airport many years, is also vice president of the newly formed foundation.
“I am glad to see this happen,” Tyree pointed out.
“This airport means a lot to me,” Tyree added. “Over the years, I have seen a lot of things happen at this airport.  They used to have Boy Scouts come up here and camp and they would give them (plane) rides.”

District 1 commissioner proud of airport

“I think it’s a good thing that both parties came together and made a mutual agreement.  The town was able to get out from under the financial burden of it, and the people who wanted to keep it an airport, were able to keep it an airport,” noted District 1 County Commissioner Rutger Hyche.
“It opens up a few things to have an airport on the eastern side of the county, now that Double Springs (airport) has been closed for quite some time,” Hyche added.
“It’s pretty cool to have a grass field (runway) on each side of the county,” he continued. “You know, there’s not a lot of them left in the state. To have one in Winston County is a pretty cool thing.”

Airport valuable to WSCC aviation program

The grass field runway serves a valuable purpose for the aviation training program at Wallace State Community College, noted Nicholas Jenkins, director of the WSCC aviation program.
The Addison airport, Jenkins explained, has been used by WSCC through the years for training exercises to work on short-field and soft-field take-offs and landings.
WSCC currently offers four different degree programs in aviation.  Now that the future of the airport has been settled, they will continue to bring instructors to Addison to demonstrate various flight maneuvers, Jenkins said.
“For the program, you can earn a private pilot certificate, instrument reading, commercial pilot certificate and flight instructor for both airplane and helicopter,” Jenkins stated.
“You have the opportunity here for a much smaller strip than Cullman or Hartselle, where we would normally do our practice with students, so they can go out and see something different, something that is not necessarily in their comfort zone and realize that yes, you can land and take off from a small short, soft field,” Jenkins emphasized.
Bert Mackentepe, flight instructor at WSCC, stressed the Addison airport is valuable to students.  WSCC began its aviation training program in 1979. 
“Probably as long as (the Addison) airport has been here, we’ve been using this airport,” Mackentepe pointed out, adding WSCC in the past had conducted fly-ins there.
“We have taught a lot of people to fly in the Addison area,” he pointed out.
“You have a short runway, so you have special procedures you use to take off on a short runway and land on a runway,” Mackentepe explained.
Soft field means the airport does not have a paved runway, so pilots have to learn the procedures of landing a plane on the actual ground, he continued.
“There is nothing like coming to an actual grass runway where they are going to use that and see what that’s all about,” Mackentepe continued.

Addison airport history

Addison acquired approximately 32 acres for the airport back in the 1970s, officially deeming it as Addison Municipal Airport in 1986, recalled Powell.
The town purchased the land with some grant money, but only could develop a certain portion of it, due to the limited amount of funding, town officials recalled. 
The airport’s grass strip is about 3,200 feet long and 120 feet wide, according to Powell.
The airport currently houses five small aircraft, mainly single engine planes  in hangars, which are on adjoining private property, town officials said.