OCEANSIDE –
Plans for a private company to operate the Oceanside Municipal Airport have been delayed.
The City Council voted 3-2 last night to postpone a discussion on whether to approve a 50-year lease, with options for two 10-year extensions, for Airport Property Ventures of Los Angeles to run the airport.
Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez opposed the decision to delay the leasing discussion.
The council will meet in closed session next week to discuss possibly changing the terms of the lease, and meet in open session on Nov. 12 for a possible vote on the deal.
Under the terms of the existing proposal, the city would receive $11.3 million in rents over the first 25 years. Airport Property Ventures would build new hangars, tie-downs and a terminal at the airport, which is located in the San Luis Revy River Valley about two miles east of Interstate 5.
The airport, with one 3,000-foot-long runway suitable primarily for propeller aircraft, is home to about 60 planes.
Councilman Jerry Kern said he had “many issues” with the financial terms of the proposal and the 50-year length.
According to the proposed lease, the private company would build out a 1997 master plan “adjusted for market demand.”
The lease calls for a minimum rent payment of $9,000 a month in 11 installments for the first year and minimum annual rents thereafter.
Airport Property Ventures is expected to pay both the city's $744,000 state loan for airport improvements and the $450,000 owed to the city's General Fund for helping operate the field when revenues did not meet expenses.
The company was one of two that bid for the lease. Kern had preferred the other, American Airport Corp. of Santa Monica, considering it better financed and more prepared to take over immediately.
Lola Sherman: (760) 476-8241; lola.sherman@uniontrib.com
