FAA questions storage at Houlton airport hangar

HOULTON – Should the hangar at Houlton International Airport be used for winter storage of boats, campers and other vehicles?

The practice of leasing out excess space in the roughly 20,000-square-foot hangar has been going on for decades, ever since the World War II era Air Force base was turned over to the town in 1946. At times potatoes and manufactured goods from a nearby mill were stored there.

Larson’s Flying Service, the fixed base operator at the airport, has continued the practice for the past 10 years by leasing out hangar space for storage of boats, campers and cars, as well as for planes. The leasing brings in about $3,500 a year.

Three weeks ago, the Town Council agreed by consensus to allow the practice to continue. After the council’s decision Nov. 26, someone apparently reported to the FAA that the hangar was being used for nonaviation purposes.

Donna Witte of the FAA in Boston subsequently informed the town that the practice was a violation of the 1946 deed with the town and that anything stored in the building that was not related to airport use had to be removed immediately.

Witte later decided to allow the campers and boats already in the building to stay there until spring.

She did not return messages left at her office on Tuesday.

As part of its order, the FAA indicated that if the town wanted to use the hangar for nonaviation purposes it would have to amend the original deed with the FAA.

Town Manager Peggy Daigle, who also serves as the airport manager, last week had prepared a letter to the FAA stating that the town would comply with the FAA order to remove nonaviation equipment from the hangar by spring.

She also wrote that the town did not intend to seek an amendment to the deed at the present time, favoring instead to “proactively work towards enhanced development of the airport for aviation purposes.”

The letter was not sent after Councilor Michael Carpenter requested that its mailing be delayed so that it could be determined if the change from the council’s consensus in November was a violation of the town’s contract with Larson’s Flying Service.

Daigle said Monday that the town’s attorney had determined that the change does not constitute a contractual violation.

Discussion continued at Monday night’s council meeting when Carpenter made a motion that the town not change the way it has allowed the hangar to be used until the FAA provides written documentation to support its order. He also asked that the town attorney’s opinion be put in writing.

“This comes as a complete surprise to me,” Carpenter said about the letter. “This is a 180-degree turn from where we were three weeks ago.”

His motion died when it failed to get a second from any of the other six councilors.

Carpenter said he was concerned that an FAA official in Boston was telling the town what it could and couldn’t do, but had not provided documentation on which the ruling was based.

“Let’s not do it because for some reason we’re convinced that we’re out of compliance with the deed,” he said.

Daigle said she had prepared the letter because the FAA had requested that the town indicate what it planned to do.

“We’ve been put on notice,” she said Monday. She said not doing as the FAA had requested would place the town in what she termed an adversarial relationship with the very agency the town has to deal with when things have to be done at the airport, including land sales and grants for equipment purchases.

Terry Larson, who operates Larson’s Flying Service, attended Monday’s meeting. He said he supported the decision to limit use to the hangar to aviation purposes, but at the same time called on the town to step up its efforts to market the airport to help make up the loss of nonaviation rentals.