Regarding the new airport building:
First and foremost, I am fully in support of building a new Ashland County Airport office/multi-use building. I think it will be a great improvement in our airport.
I feel the need to make the above statement because my below criticism of the construction process and of the county commissioners and airport authority board members. I am supportive of the project, but highly critical of the process. The following statements are from the Ashland Source’s 3/23/2024 report, by Dillon Carr:
Commissioner President Denny Bittle said the project’s cost is $1.45 million, with a contingency of 10%.
Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk, in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, expressed concern with which entity will pay for “cost over” expenses — the county or the airport authority.
She used the recently completed dog shelter as an example. “I mean that was proposed, and it went way over,” Funk said.
Initial official estimates put the dog shelter’s price at $1.5 million. When finished, the project amounted to $3.5 million, according to county records.
Commissioner Mike Welch said he didn’t know who would pay for expenses that spill over the estimate. “I don’t know that answer, at this point. I think we have to wait and see how the project get’s moving. Because it’s kind of a guessing game,” he said.
(Tom Zupan, a trustee for the airport authority) Zupan said they would cross that bridge when they come to it.
What kind of management is this? When asked how cost overruns will be handled, Commissioner Welch says we’ll have to wait and see after the project is being built! Trustee states the same with “cross that bridge when they come to it.” Are you kidding me?! If “a good plan is a job half done,” as the saying goes, then no plan must be somewhat catastrophic.
Regardless, we are looking forward to a great improvement in Ashland County’s services and stature, as a result. An attractive fixed base operator, as such, will attract more business users as well as weekend flyers/hobbyists, like auto drivers out for a cruise, and actually increase real airport activity – as was intended by its original builders and supporters.
Regards,
Denis Fox
Ashland, OH