ROCKLAND – Knox County commissioners will hold a special meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss a letter the county received from MBNA America this week.

The commissioners wrote a letter to the credit-card lender regarding the company’s flights in and out of Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head. The county owns and operates the airport.

The letter, signed by commissioners Bob Duke, Mason Johnson and Lawrence Nash, expressed some frustration with MBNA flying in and out of the airport with its corporate jets after midnight and before 6 a.m. The county adopted a voluntary curfew on flights after 10:30 p.m. and before 6 a.m.

The letter, sent to Charles Cowan, a facilities manager at the company, on Aug. 22, suggested that MBNA was not being a “good neighbor” by apparently ignoring the curfew.

MBNA has said it tries to limit flights to before midnight and after 6 a.m., but neighbors of the airport complained that on July 17, two jets were flying over the airport at about 3 a.m.

Subsequent investigation by the county revealed that one of MBNA’s jets landed that night at 3 a.m., while a second tried but could not land, due to foggy conditions.

On Wednesday, MBNA president and CEO Charles Cawley asked for a private meeting with commissioners, but was told that commissioners could not guarantee that they would hold a closed session. County Clerk Virginia Lindsey also said by law, she would have to notify the press about the meeting.

Cawley dropped his request for the meeting, then sent a letter to the county in which he said he was offended by the county’s suggestion that the company was not a good neighbor. MBNA has donated $900,000 to the airport to date, Cawley wrote.

Cawley also charged that the airport is not safe or well-maintained. He wrote that the instrument landing system is inoperable as often as it is working, and that the company’s offers to help the airport develop a noise abatement plan were rebuffed by the airport manager.

MBNA spokesman David Spartin said Friday he was not aware that the meeting had been scheduled, and was not sure if company representatives would attend. The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Knox County court.