New T-Hangar Lease? –

EDGAR CO. (ECWd) –

We recently received a copy of the new t-hangar lease, “Hangar Lease” (do not confuse it with the business lease), from the airport manager. This came as a surprise since there have been no discussions or approvals of any such lease at any airport board meeting. The Advisory Board, being advisory only (Chris Patrick’s words),  would have had to take a vote on whether or not to recommend its adoption to the county board – that did not happen. Once recommended, the county board would have had to approve its adoption – that did not happen.

There are a few items in the new, unapproved, unadopted t-hangar lease that are questionable, most notably:

 – Must show proof of liability insurance on all “flyable” airplane stored inside the t-hangar, and all airplanes stored outside the hangars. The County is to be named additionally insured and have a notification certificate. **Why did they mention only “flyable” when stored inside hangars and “any” when stored outside hangars? Could it be that Jimmy Wells’ airplane is not flyable and is stored in a t-hangar, therefore does not need proof of insurance? Are they trying to make a t-hangar leaseholder show proof of insurance on items not stored in the hangar when others can store on there without proof? Maybe the County should have to show proof of insurance to the leaseholder, since we know the county doesn’t carry fire insurance…Why is there no mention of a dollar amount for insurance coverage? Would a one dollar liability insurance policy conform to these “insurance requirements”? Couldn’t a person just “self-insure” for a one dollar policy, put it in escrow until something happens where it needs to pay out?

– Paragraphs 5 and 6, wow, the county and its emplyees aren’t liable for anything even if negligent. That paragraph makes the entire lease invalid.

– Paragraph 7, the County insists on the right to ground all of leasees airplanes if they don’t agree with what the leaseholder does. Can anyone see a problem with this part? The County does not have the power to ground an airplane, let alone all of the airplanes owned by one person. Think back to what has happened the past 6 or 8 months, then tell me who this is designed for. Would you want Jimmy and Chris to have that power over your airplanes with no recourse? – Just because they felt like it? What a joke!

– Paragraph 8, County can terminate at any time with or without cause and leaseholder must immediately vacate. Who do these people think they are? This is not their little private kingdom!

– Paragraph 9, County can enter the leased space for any reason or no reason at all, at any time, without notice, and without leaseholder being present. Another freakin joke, but I’m sure Jimmy and Chris has one person in mind when they inserted that one in there…

– Paragraph 13, Leaseholder has to give a key to any and all locks they have, let me guess…so Jimmy can “safeguard” them?

– Paragraph 15, They demand this of other people, but violate it themselves…

To top it all off, it is a 5-year lease!

This is the reason that paying attention is so critical. The “Edgar County Airport Policy Manual” they have publically stated they are now following has NEVER BEEN APPROVED AND ADOPTED by any advisory board nor by the County Board, which is a requirement. I remember Mr. Patrick stating several times, and we have it on video and audio, that the advisory board is just that – advisory only – and they have no power to do anything but recommend things to the county board for approval or denial. So by using this unadopted policy manual, Jimmy has the perceived power to use this new unadopted lease, including canceling leases just because he feels like it, and for no other reason – which contradicts his employment contract.

I wonder if the FAA, IDOT Division of Aeronautics, and “local” officials have read and approved this lease? Sorry, didn’t mean to make you laugh…I seriously doubt if even our State’s Attorney is dumb enough to endorse this piece of toilet paper, let alone anyone from the state or federal level.

 One Final Question

One final question is this: Where is the lease for the “Ag” buildings? One of them is filled with round bails of straw/hay, and the barn next to it has farm equipment parked inside? NOBODY has signed a lease and nobody is paying rent on these spaces. Which means that nobody has shown proof of liability insurance with the county named as additionally insured – with the accompanying certificate(s). This is most likely a liabilty for the county, why hasn’t their insurance company demanded the paperwork? Come on Dimond Bros, get on the ball and make sure everyone has to produce the same paperwork!

View the lease here.

 
[gview file=”https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hangarLease2013.pdf”]