Easton Airport Recommends Westair Aviation to Lease Jet Lane Hangar; Council Takes Up Request Tuesday

EASTON, MARYLAND — Westair Aviation, Inc. would lease the county-owned aircraft hangar at 9465 Jet Lane at Easton Airport for avionics installations, aircraft maintenance and aircraft sales under a recommendation the Talbot County Council is asked to act on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The airport received two proposals by the Sept. 30 deadline, Airport Manager Micah Risher wrote in an Oct. 19 memo to County Manager Clay Stamp. Airport management and the Airport Advisory Board unanimously recommend awarding the bid to Westair, the memo says.

The one-page memo does not state a rent or a lease length. On its web page for the bid, Easton Airport estimates fair-market rent for the hangar at $7,000 to $8,000 a month, based on comparable rents at Easton and across the Mid-Atlantic and on strong demand for hangar space. The page says the airport will negotiate the final rental rate and terms with the respondent it finds most advantageous to the airport and its users.

The hangar was built in 2006 on a parcel of about 36,960 square feet, according to the airport's request for proposals. It measures about 80 by 85 feet, with an electric lift door about 75 feet wide and 18 feet high, and has a 14-by-20-foot office with a bathroom inside.

The request ranked the uses the airport wanted. A commercial business serving the public, such as aircraft maintenance, a flight school, charter or aircraft leasing, came first. Storage for an aircraft not already based at the airport came second, and storage for one already based there came last. Proposed rent and terms, repair work the bidder would do on the hangar, a business plan and the bidder's background were also listed as criteria.

If the council approves, the airport's public notice says, lease terms under the county's real estate leasing policies will be offered to the selected operator. The winning bidder must sign a written agreement with the county.

The request is item IX.E under the county manager's report on the council's Oct. 27 agenda. The open meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Bradley Meeting Room.