County offers no-interest loan for completion of hangar building

The ground work for a new hangar building at the Presque Isle Couty Airport in Rogers City was laid in more ways than one at last week?s meeting of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners. The board awarded bids for the concrete foundation for the structure, which will be located in the southwest corner of the property, near the recently paved road, and decided to offer a no-interest loan to complete construction of the building. The concrete bids came in higher than estimates, which will push the price of the project above the $100,000 mark.

The county was bequested $100,000 from the Radka estate for the construction of the airport hangar. Elmer Radka and his wife Margaret were avid flying enthusiasts who owned a plane and made frequent trips to Drummond Island. Elmer Radka, a former county prosecutor, requested the new hangar building be named in memory of Margaret. He passed away in May 2002. The funds are with the county and have been placed in a 30 day CD, according to commissioner Bob Schell, chairman of the Courthouse and Grounds committee.

SCHELL TOLD board members that bids for the concrete work were considerably more than the estimates of engineering firm URS, which worked on the Phase I renovation of the runway. He said the reason the bids were high is because of the rock which needs to be excavated at the site. The concrete pad will be 52-by-190 and would be able to house eight planes, as well as an office. ?It?s a pretty good chunk of concrete,? said Schell. ?The building is going to be around $72,000, but we didn?t have a deposit on it, so we?re subject to steel increases.?

Schell said the price of steel is expected to increase by as much as 10 percent, bringing the price of the building to nearly $80,000. Lee?s Ready Mix of Rogers City had the lowest of the qualifying bids at $46,400, but that brings the cost of the project well above the money received from the Radka estate. ?We only had $100,000 in that hangar fund,? Schell said, ?and we?re not going to get that hangar built for $100,000.? Airport manager Mike Jermeay suggested the board consider a low-interest loan for anything above $100,000. Once the hangar is built, rental fees would be used to pay back the county.

?They?ve had four people request to use space,? said Schell. ?We talked about a $35,000 loan for five years. If we rented all eight, there would be profit in the rental of the hangar.?

COMMISSIONER MIKE DARGA wondered if constructing a smaller complex would be a better way to go. Schell said that would send the project back to square-one and the airpo

rt committee would have to start from scratch. ?The recommendation of the manager and the assistant manager is that we stay with the eight,? Schell said. ?They feel they can easily fill the eight — and in return — generate some income for the county.? Chairman Allan Bruder said he had a similar idea a few years back: ?borrrowing the money from the tax fund, and from the rent, pay it back over a period of years. I think it?s the smart thing to do.? Bruder said he had thought of a $100,000 loan for 10 years, so he believes the county could handle a $25,000 to $35,000 loan to be paid back in half the time.

?I don?t see it as being such a bad thing, it?s for the community,? said Bruder. Schell made a motion to allow for a no-interest loan for five years for the additional cost of a hangar above $100,000, which was approved on a 4-0 vote. Early in the meeting, the four bids for the concrete work from four Rogers City area firms were discussed. Bids ranged from as high as $58,900 to as low as $39,000. The lowest bid couldn?t be accepted, Schell said, because the specifications printed in the newspaper were not followed. A check or surety bond was not included. Even though that company had the low price, he didn?t believe the rules should be changed. Lee?s Ready Mix was the next lowest bid, at $46,400, so a motion to accept the bid was made and approved.