Booking the board

The newly-seated Saratoga Airport Advisory Board held a successful initial meeting on June 12. It has been two months since the dissolution of the Saratoga Airport Board, founded in 1978, and any airport updates came via Council member Jon Nelson during meetings of the Saratoga Town Council.

As the advisory board met for the first time, Nelson was joined by former airport board members Lance Grubb and Arlen Hughes, who had been appointed to the advisory board during the June 4 town council meeting.

Also joining the meeting, by phone, was Ladd Sanger, who had submitted a letter of interest as well. Due to Sanger having signed one of two ground leases for French Creek Holdings, LLC it was believed that Sanger qualified as a hangar owner. During the June 4 town council meeting, the council appointed Hughes to the airport advisory board with Nelson stating that there would be a spot for Sanger should it be available.

“Ladd, we got a copy of the letter that you submitted to town hall, to Suzie (Cox), in front of us. I did let Lance and Arlen know that you and I spoke and talked a little bit about … your status as a member of the LLC that leases the ground and your residency status, which we talked about the other day,” said Nelson. “I looked at that ordinance the other day and it does say we can have two members outside of town limits. I guess the bigger question I have, if you can kind of speak to it, about the nature of your LLC and how that works.”

Sanger explained that French Creek Holdings belonged to his father, Charles Sanger, and that the ground leases for both hangars were held under the LLC. The younger Sanger informed the airport advisory board that he had signed one of the leases for tax purposes, but had removed his name from the lease since then. When asked by Nelson if Sanger had any financial interest in French Creek Holdings, Sanger stated that he was not aware of any.

Sanger currently lives in Texas, where he is a partner and aviation lawyer at Slack Davis Sanger. He informed the advisory board that his belief was that he could bring a different perspective to the board due to flying jets into Shively Airfield on a regular basis. His career as an aviation lawyer also gives him some connections in the Federal Aviation Administration.

“I’m looking forward to trying to help out. I really would like to do anything I can to help out the airport and help out Bob and Aaron (Maddox). Get more traffic in and out of there. I’m happy to help out on the minimum standards, happy to help out on the master plan. That needs to be updated because the airport isn’t what it was back when that master plan was put together, thankfully,” said Sanger. “There’s a lot of traffic in and out of there. Yesterday, when I was leaving, there were four or five jets coming and going all at the same time. Brush Creek’s really driving a lot of traffic in there. I think it’s time we put this stuff together and make our case to the FAA.”

The airport advisory board made the decision to recommend Sanger be appointed. Along with Sanger’s letter, another letter was introduced during the meeting from Saratoga resident Deb Clark. Clark currently serves as the adjunct for the American Legion and stated in her letter that, despite her having no familiarity with airplanes, she felt she could bring a unique perspective to the board.

The advisory board took no action on the letter, with discussion centering around wanting to get to know Clark better before making a decision. It was during this discussion that Aaron Maddox asked if the board members would consider appointing an employee of Brush Creek Ranch to the board, adding that the luxury ranch accounted for approximately 40 percent of the traffic seen at the airport.

“I see the importance of having Brush Creek at the table, it might be a little tricky as far as they are a ground lessee. At the end of the day, I think they would want a seat here and, being that they’re a big part of the traffic, I’d love to have their concerns heard,” said Grubb.

“To have an employee of Brush Creek Ranch, hypothetically, if that’s what we’re suggesting, I personally do not see that as an employee of the ranch being a lessee. I think there’s enough separation there that not only is it clearly not going to be in their name, but they’re also not going to have a financial or legal tie to it,” Nelson said.

With no action taken on the letter of interest from Clark, and only a discussion about the possibility of any employee of Brush Creek Ranch serving on the board, one seat remains open.

Along with recommending members to the board, officers elections were also held. Grubb was elected to serve as Chairman, a seat he held when the previous airport board was dissolved. Hughes was elected as acting secretary and Nelson will serve as acting treasurer until the board is complete.

Finally, the board discussed changing the time of the meetings. The 1 p.m. meeting time has often served as a point of frustration for some hangar owners, and members of the Saratoga Airport Board had commented on its inconvenience. As the newly formed advisory board continues to establish itself, the decision was made to try a 3:30 p.m. meeting time.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board will be at 3:30 p.m. on July 10 at the Saratoga Town Hall.