For the second time in as many

months, a company came before the Peachtree City Airport Authority at

their monthly meeting and expressed an interest in buying the Hunting

Facility and running the Fixed Base Operation, which is currently run

at Wednesday night's meeting that had members of the audience excited

and had members of the authority preaching caution and patience.

The Hunting Facility, located

at Falcon Field and previously used by a company called Stevens, has been

vacant for five years. The space of the property is very appealing to

other aviation companies because of its size and proximity to the airport.

The facility offers a large amount of hangar space and Chippewa would

use that space to do avionic modifications and installs. Some of their

clients would be what is considered regional jets, which prompted authority

member Matt Davis to wonder if the type of traffic Chippewa would bring

in, is the type of traffic Falcon Field wants.

Davis and other members of

the authority feel that they need to have what Davis called a "come

to Jesus" meeting, discussing the philosophy of the airport and what

they want to become. While authority chairman Cathy Nelmes stated that

the Authority would be happy to have Chippewa at the airport, they were

unsure if they wanted to give up the operation of the FBO. Representatives

from Chippewa said that not running the FBO wasn't necessarily a

deal-breaker, but it did make Falcon Field a little less attractive. Stevens,

the former tenant of the Hunting Facility, is one of the main reasons

for the authority's hesitancy to privatize the operation of the FBO.

The service and prices that Stevens provided did not attract customers

and it took the airport several years to establish an solid reputation.

Chippewa representatives assured

the authority that their taking over the FBO would be good for everyone

involved. They only want to provide fuel and all other responsibilities

of the FBO would remain with the airport. They also stated that after

looking at the airport's numbers, the airport would have a significant

amount of money, enough to cover their overhead. Authority members will

seek a consultant to look at both sides of numbers to make sure this is

correct. Chippewa also stated that by moving from Myrtle Beach, S.C.,

to Peachtree City and expanding, they would bring a lot of jobs to the

community.

Also at Wednesday's meeting

was a representative of the Hunting Facility. He stated that Hunting is

getting out of the aviation business, is more favorable to sell the property

this year and that the facility will be sold, not leased. Hunting has

been dealing with Chippewa for several months and feels that their offer

is one of the more serious offers in the past several years. The Hunting

Facility is expected to sell for four million dollars.

The authority will hold a workshop

at some point in the next two weeks and will decide just what type of

airport they will become and whether or not they want to be in the FBO

business. Nelmes stated that she would be favorable to privatizing the

FBO operation if the airport could be sure of quality service, cover their

overhead and make money. Chippewa understood the need for the authority

to ask those questions and have them answered. By the authority's

February meeting, they should be closer to a decision on whether to be

in the FBO business.