Creswell leaders invite discussion on city's airport.Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard CRESWELL - Area residents and business owners, including long--disgruntled Creswell Airport users, will have the ear of the City Council and the airport commission tonight when the panels jointly convene CONVENE, civil law. This is a technical term, signifying to bring an action. a town hall meeting to discuss the airport's future. The public gathering comes days after the Oregon Department of Transportation accepted the city's $226,000 bid to purchase 32 acres of vacant land just east of the airport. ODOT ODOT Oregon Department of Transportation ODOT Ohio Department Of Transportation ODOT Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Harwood said the agency has submitted the sales deed to Lane County, which is expected to record it this week. Acting City Administrator Jamon Kent said the city has no specific plans for the property. "At that price, it seemed very, very prudent to purchase it as a future growth area," he said Friday. "The council didn't want to let that opportunity go by." The land, which is outside the city limits and zoned by Lane County for agricultural use, was purchased by ODOT when it was assembling the right of way for construction of nearby Interstate in·ter·state adj. Involving, existing between, or connecting two or more states. n. One of a system of highways extending between the major cities of the 48 contiguous United States. Noun 1. 5 decades ago. A portion of the property, located east of the airport's north-south runway, was long used as a parachute parachute, umbrellalike device designed to retard the descent of a falling body by creating drag as it passes through the air. The development of modern aircraft has led to many experiments in the aerodynamic problems of parachute design, with the result that the landing zone by two skydiving skydiving Sport of jumping from an airplane at a moderate altitude (e.g., 6,000 ft [1,800 m]) and executing various body maneuvers before pulling the rip cord of a parachute. Competitive events include jumping for style, landing with accuracy, and performing in teams (e.g. operations based at the airport. The state banned such use of the property in July 2006 and put the land up for sale as surplus property after getting caught up in a rancorous ran·cor n. Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will. See Synonyms at enmity. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin, rancid smell, from Latin dispute between city officials and skydiving operators over the safety of a "drop zone" near the runway. ODOT officials said then that the staff time it was devoting to the wrangling cost far more than the $150 per year Creswell had been paying for use of the state land. ODOT also cited Creswell's failure to sign a revised contract requested by the state agency in January 2006. In letting the agreement lapse (language) LAPSE - A single assignment language for the Manchester dataflow machine. ["A Single Assignment Language for Data Flow Computing", J.R.W. Glauert, M.Sc Diss, Victoria U Manchester, 1978]. , Creswell cited its inability to negotiate a new "drop zone user agreement" with skydiving operators and to obtain liability insurance that would satisfy the state. Owners of both skydiving companies, Eugene Sky-divers and Wright Brothers Sky-diving, expressed interest then in trying to buy the drop zone land. Under state law, however, ODOT must first offer the land to other government agencies. Airport manager Shelley Humble said in 2006 that the city had no plans to bid on the property, saying it was part of the Airport Master Layout Plan only as "a safety feature, a buffer zone buffer zone n. A neutral area between hostile or belligerent forces that serves to prevent conflict. Noun 1. buffer zone ." But the City Council decided otherwise after that, and Creswell submitted the only bid to purchase the property before a deadline late last year, ODOT spokesman Joe Harwood said. The city's bid of $226,001 was $3,001 higher that the minimum bid ODOT set at $223,000, based on market value, Harwood said. Two other agencies, The Lane County Sheriff's Office and the Creswell School District also had expressed interested in bidding for the land, Harwood said. Both skydiving companies secured agreements with other landowners to land their skydivers on other agricultural land, though both said doing so creates an economic hardship because of the staff and travel costs associated with retrieving customers from the other sites. They have charged that the city is illegally discriminating dis·crim·i·nat·ing adj. 1. a. Able to recognize or draw fine distinctions; perceptive. b. Showing careful judgment or fine taste: against their businesses, saying Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control rules require all federally funded airports to accommodate all FAA--recognized aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau activities, including skydiving.
Humble and other city officials point, however, to a 2006 letter from the FAA's Oregon general aviation supervisor, Michael Harris Mike Harris or Michael Harris may refer to:
The dispute arose after several pilots made verbal and written complaints alleging near misses and other safety issues posed by some sky-divers and skydive sky·dive intr.v. sky·dived, sky·div·ing, sky·dives To jump and fall freely from an airplane, performing various maneuvers before pulling the ripcord of a parachute. pilots. Letters to city officials indicate that the issue will surface again at tonight's forum. At least one private pilot who uses the airport recently wrote to urge the city to hold its line in not allowing a drop zone "on airport property." But several others - including flight school operator Dorothy Schick - have written to city officials that skydiving should be permitted along with other aeronautical activities at the airport. Kent said the City Council called the town hall session "because we need to look at what the airport could be and where we want to go." The council has gained some new members in recent years who wanted "an opportunity to sit down with people and see what they think." Among those new councilors is David Case Air Commodore David Case is the highest ranking black officer in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, and at the age of 47 is the highest ranking black officer ever to serve in Britain's armed forces. He was born in Guyana, and immigrated to Britain at the age of 5. . "There is a lack of community at the airport now," he said Monday, adding that he hopes city leaders can help "the airport users and the management to be on better terms for the current and future needs at the airport." Case said he welcomed tonight's gathering, to be facilitated by former Eugene City Manager Jim Johnson, as a venue for "proposed solutions and ideas" as well as issues and complaints. TOWN TALKS AIRPORT What: Town Hall Meeting Where: Creswell Community Center, 99 S. First St. Time: 7 p.m. Information: 895-2531 TOWN TALKS AIRPORT What: Town Hall Meeting Where: Creswell Community Center, 99 S. First St. Time: 7 p.m. Information: 895-2531 |
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