Response to Talmage v. CityCharlie & Rich:
My initial response to the Talmage proposal is:
1. The City of Kalispell has been working on a plan to further
develop its airport for the past several years using federal (FAA)
funding. The FAA has a strict policy regarding through-the-fence
operations on federally funded airports. They (FAA) have stated that we
are eligible for federal funding and we do not have any TTF operations
and therefore should not enter into any TTF agreements while federal
funding is being considered. The loss of federal funding could
jeopardize the future of the airport.
2. The City of Kalispell removed one, old, narrow, dilapidated
taxiway that ran to the Talmage property, and replaced it with two, new,
FAA approved taxiways that could accommodate nearly every aircraft that
might want to use the services of the Talmage property. If there is a
question of more room to taxi any aircraft, we could move the fence
towards the Talmage property to gain more taxiway since the fence is 50
feet into the City airport property already.
3. We could enlarge the gate area as well as move the fence back
towards the Talmage property. Talmage not having enough room on his
property to conduct his business is not a concern of the City airport.
4. We do not want to do anything that would give the implication
that we are showing favoritism to Diamond Aire when they are not an
on-airport client of the City airport. Past performance has shown that
Diamond Aire does not care about the operations of the City airport and
has chosen to remain outside of the airport's operations. Granting the
Talmage property any special rights at this time would be a mistake and
it could jeopardize our current clients on the airport who support air
operations.
5. I am all for protecting the rights of the airport and its
future.
Fred A. Leistiko
Airport Manager
City of Kalispell
P.O. Box 1997
Kalispell, MT 59903
406-250-3065