Columbus city councilmen voted 5-1 to enter an agreement with Lowndes County to pay a consultant to the Columbus-Lowndes Airport board despite ongoing concerns about the city’s finances.
Chief Operating Officer David Armstrong, who also sits on the airport board, spoke to councilmen as a board representative about its desire to hire Rick Milburn as a consultant to assist airport fixed-base operator Jared Rabren, 26, an independent contractor who took over airport operations in January.
“Here’s my concern,” Armstrong said. “(Rabren) is young and full of spitfire, as we all used to be. We don’t want to lose that but (the airport board) all agree he needs an elder statesman, if you will. He needs advice from someone who has a lot of experience.”
Milburn, 71, who first offered his consulting services to the airport board last year, has 40 years of aviation management experience and has worked in the private sector for three aviation companies in Illinois — including in sales, service and appraisals. For a fee of $200 per meeting, Armstrong said Milburn would attend each of the five or six meetings the board holds and offer Rabren advice on grant applications and other matters involving the operations of the airport.
The county would pay $100 of that per-meeting fee and has already agreed to do so, Armstrong said. Jeff Smith, District 4 county supervisor who chairs the airport board, did not respond to The Dispatch’s calls for comment by press time. Milburn was unavailable for comment by press time.
Councilman Bill Gavin, Ward 6, opposed the expenditure, citing a perceived spending and hiring freezes councilmen enacted in the wake of two straight fiscal years when the city operated at deficits exceeding $800,000. Currently, there is no official spending freeze on anything except speed humps, curbs and LED streetlights, although councilmen voted in April to approve a seven-point plan that included close monitoring of all non-essential expenses.
“We need to curtail spending unless it’s an emergency,” Gavin told Armstrong. “Is this an emergency?”
Armstrong replied that no, it is not, but the board believes contracting with Milburn to consult with Rabren will prevent future FBO turnover, something the airport has struggled with in the past.
“Every time we lose an FBO, we lose money,” Armstrong said. “So if we can do something to contribute to this young man’s success, I think we ought to. (The board) only meets five times a year. For $500, I think that’s more than reasonable.”
Councilman Charlie Box, Ward 3, who also sits on the airport board, agreed.
“We’ve been talking to (Milburn) about this for six months,” Box said, speaking to The Dispatch. “He would advise on grants, he knows a lot about every part of the airport business. I think it would be the best $500 we ever spent.”
Under his current lease agreement, which can be renewed by the board every year, Rabren receives roughly $48,000 in public money per year, plus any revenue generated from operations at the airport. Rabren works full-time at the airport, managing an $80,000 budget for fuel, facility repairs and maintenance.
Councilmen also voted unanimously to pay their share — roughly $3,000 — of a grant match from the Federal Aviation Administration to resurface and repair the airport’s cracked runway. Ninety percent of the $131,000 grant will come from the FAA and the state will fund an additional 5 percent, while the city and county will each pay 2.5 percent.
“The city already has about $9,500 in the budget for these kinds of repairs,” said City Engineer Kevin Stafford. “So that leaves about $6,000 there’s no plan to use. The city is in good shape there.”
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