Bay Airport Chairman: Donation of Land OK’D

Aug. 24–The major issues surrounding a pending land donation agreement between the Panama City-Bay County International Airport Authority and the St. Joe Co. have been resolved, board Chairman Joe Tannehill said Tuesday.

Tannehill, who made his remarks after Tuesday’s regular board meeting, said he hoped to submit an agreement for approval during a September board meeting. Any land donation agreement between the two parties also must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The company in 1999 provided a letter of intent to donate about 4,000 acres near West Bay for a new airport site, but no formal agreement has been reached to transfer the property to the airport.

Tannehill said two main sticking points he has addressed with St. Joe representatives were reverter clauses for the 4,000 acres if relocation does not go forward and non-airline functions at the proposed new location.

“I’m pretty hopeful,” Tannehill said, adding, “we’ll see what the rest of the guys think about it.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said the airport should receive the FAA’s final Environmental Impact Statement regarding relocation on Nov. 4, with a Record of Decision expected from the agency in January.

Curtis said the airport had expected the FAA to issue the decision in December.

He said the delay is because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to further review the potential impacts of relocation on the flatwoods salamander’s habitat.

The flatwoods salamander is a member of the mole salamander family, and is found in the Florida Panhandle. It is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Web site.

“We assume it’s there, although one has not been seen on the site,” Curtis said.

In other business Tuesday, Curtis said passenger traffic declined by more than 11 percent in July compared to the same month in 2004.

He partially attributed the drop to Hurricane Dennis, which closed the airport for two days.

Curtis distributed to board members a list that showed July passenger traffic totals at competing regional airports.

Tallahassee, Dothan, Ala., and Pensacola airports all reported traffic declines for the month, while numbers from Okaloosa Regional Airport were unavailable.

Panama City’s passenger traffic had been up in May and June compared to last year. For the year-to date, passenger traffic has decreased 1.74 percent compared to the same time period last year.

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