09/28/2018- It’s been a contentious year for the Menominee Regional Airport as the county and airport users continue to butt heads over new lease terms and standards imposed by MDOT and the FAA. To further complicate matters, the airport remains without a fulltime manager to moderate these discussions and oversee other airport operations. Tuesday, the County’s Board of Commissioners approved a recommendation to temporarily assign some of the airport oversight responsibilities to County Administrator Jason Carviou. The proposal also included maintaining the part-time airport administrative assistant, despite some commissioners’ insistence that that role should have already been phased-out. However, Commissioner Steve Gromala says retaining that part-time employee will help lessen some of the administrative workload placed on Carviou.
Carviou says the delegation will only be temporary until the lease disputes at the airport are resolved. He says it’s up to the Airport Committee to decide on a long-term management structure.
Carviou says his taking on some of the airport oversight responsibilities will provide a further cost savings by utilizing the county’s own attorney for some documentation preparation.