�FOUR YEARS LATER � THE STEWART HANGER� A REBUTTAL TO MAYOR BILLINGS Four-years ago, when Mayor Billings confiscated our hanger (after he had personally represented to both Noel and Doyal Stewart that he would not), we told him then, this information would be made available to the public during his next election. In fact, David Bailey did not solicit this information (�Mayor Billings Confiscates Provo Citizens� $200,000 Hanger Without Compensation� -- see and he did not have a hand in its distribution, neither did his campaign representatives. The following is a rebuttal to Mayor Billing�s innuendo and personal attacks on my Brother Doyal and I (Noel Stewart � see - information alert �Noel and Doyal Airport Letter�). Among many allegations the Mayor asserts the Stewart�s did not fix damage to their hanger for ten years, that their area was strewn with debris and they were using the hanger for non-aviation purposes, as reasons for confiscating their hanger. While there are some fleeting facts that have a commonality with the truth � the owl for instance, the rest is an incredible misconstruing of reality. Stewart Hanger and Provo Airport Today � Monday 7th of November Today, Monday, November 7th, I went to Provo Airport and took the attached pictures of what was the Stewart hanger (See photos -StewCoHanger-11-7-2005; StewCoHanger11-7-2005(2); StewCoHangerRear; ; DoorSeal-StewCo; DoorSeal-StewCo(2); HangerDamageSide; Weeds-RearStewCoHanger; StewCoHanger-Rear), and also some other pictures of the airport in general (See photos: Junk; ProvoAir-HangerRow; ProvoAirPHangerDamage; ProvoAir-Empty). You can visit the airport as I have done and judge for yourself who is telling the truth regarding these matters. Four years after Mayor Billings confiscated this hanger it is plain to see that the main door�s seal is torn loose [photo: DoorSeal-StewCo(2)] or entirely missing (photo: DoorSeal-StewCo), and it is open to birds, mice and vermin. This damaged has occurred since it was taken by the Mayor. The sides of the hanger are caved-in and dented, in many locations down the access way, (photo: HangerDamageSide) also allowing animals into the building. Again, this is damage that has taken place after the Stewart�s ownership. There is debris and weeds all around the hanger, (photo: Weeds-RearStewCoHanger) including the main hanger door [photo: StewCoHange11-7-2005(2)] and if there were a brush fire at the airport it would amount to a disaster. It wouldn�t be a bad idea to have a real Fire Chief look things over. Mayor Billings asserts in his letter that the principal reasons for confiscating the Stewart hanger were that it became a �nuisance� and �health hazard� because animals, including an owl, had inhabited the hanger and, according to Billings, the Stewart�s refused to fix a tear in the hanger for more than a decade. He asserts that three airport managers tired to get them to remedy this problem. Actually, this wind damage occurred during a storm in late 2001, one year before the hanger was confiscated by Billings. After repeated negotiations by the Stewart�s legal counsel to fix this damage as condition precedent for lease renewal (see below), the hanger was taken without compensation. If these were the real reasons for Billings�s confiscation of the hanger, why is the hanger now in a worse condition than it was four years ago? Facts Regarding the Stewart Hanger During Lease Negotiations With Billings And �The Dead Owl� The South side of the Stewart hanger had two panels torn loose from wind damaged at the later part of 2001, during which, the Stewart�s and their legal counsel had been involved with Mayor Billings for more than a year trying to negotiate their lease of the airport property. This was long after Mayor Billings� assistant had opined �We have to start somewhere,� regarding intentions on the un-precedented confiscation of the Stewart�s hanger. Wind damage to the hanger was a belated red herring brought up by the Mayor�s office as reason for delaying the lease renewal. Yet, both the Stewart�s and their legal counsel repeatedly offered to fix the wind damage to the hanger (and to do so immediately on the day their airport lease agreement was renewed by the city). Instead the city gave the Stewart�s a few days notice to vacate the premises. The Mayor just wanted to lead them into fixing this damage when his intention all along was to confiscate the hanger. Advise to hold on such repairs until after the lease was granted by the city was expressed to the Stewart�s by legal counsel, whose extended efforts to resolve the matter lead him to conclude the city had jaundiced intentions. There was not any reason to doubt that the Stewart�s would fix the hanger, as a condition precedent to assuming a lease from the city. During this period, I was fully aware that an owl had inhabited the hanger, gaining access through the wind damaged area. In contemplation of fixing these damaged panels on the hanger, and also hoping Billings had honest intentions about renewal of our lease, I had determined to insert the last repaired panel at night when the bird was gone from the hanger. On the day Mayor Billings confiscated the building and gave us notice we had a day to retrieve belongings, I found the owl lying on the hanger floor in a pool of blood. It had been shot and killed by someone, evidently from the city, in their anticipation of taking the building. They had also jimmied the door lock off and the hanger was wide open. Some of our aircraft tools were already stolen and no one from the city knew who had taken them. If you visit the airport today you will see hangers with considerably torn and missing exteriors, worse than the Stewart�s hanger during anytime of their lease, including the wind damage (See photos: ProvoAirHangerDamage; ProvoAir-HangerRow; ProvoAir-Empty). The Stewart hanger had been a location for several of our aircraft, including a Cessna 210, Beach Craft 58p, and later an Aerospatiale Lama helicopter. In conjunction with transporting materials essential to our business with these aircraft, some materials were temporarily stored in side bins at the hanger. The hangers primary and essential usage with the Stewart�s was for aircraft. This is not the case at the Provo airport currently. I challenge Billings to prove otherwise � open all the hangers and let the public see inside of them. You will find, motor homes, ATV�s and boats, among others (See photo: Junk). Not that I begrudge anyone for storing these things in their hangers, just that reality resounds with Billings� real intent and now, distortion of these facts. Current State Of Provo Airport During my visit to the airport today, I noticed numerous places where there are ATV�s, boats, motor homes, building materials, junk, debris, and huge growths of weeds behind or around almost every one of the hangers (See photos: Junk: ProvoAir-HangerRow: StewCoHanger-Rear; Weeds-RearStewCoHanger). This is obvious proof that the mayor�s letter of rebuttal is complete non-sense related to claims he makes as sufficient grounds to confiscate the Stewart hanger. Current appraisal of the former Stewart hanger shows four years of Mayor Billings�s control finds it not fit for aviation usage. With the missing and torn door seal, you would probably get less bird droppings on your aircraft if it were parked outside. The functions of the airport are in a similar state of disarray. There were only eleven aircraft at the airport today (November 7th, 2005 -- See photo: ProvoAir-Empty). Before Mayor Billings, it was difficult to find a tie down at the airport that did not have a general aviation aircraft present. After seeing Provo airport, in contrast, visit Heber Valley airport and see the difference. General aviation is not residing at Provo. Despite Billings preposterous politicizing to the contrary there have been only a couple of hangers built at the airport during his tenure as mayor. Anyone who has been in aviation at Provo during this time can tell you the same. Yes, there are a few special operations at the airport that account for most of the �15,000 operations� and �sale of fuel at the airport� (if that can even be believed, as mentioned by Billings in his rebuttal). These are primarily from two UVSC student flight operations that account for numerous �touch and goes� (simulated landings and take-offs). The fact remains that Salt Lake International is a Cat-III airport with capability to land aircraft at extremely low visibility. I challenge Mayor Billings to show a single �air carrier� that has logged a landing at Provo. If it were true residents would immediately have known of such arriving air traffic, they would not need Billings� posturing to tell them about the arrival of fantasy aircraft. Billings seems intent to slander people and misrepresent the facts at every twist and turn of the political process that finds him coming up short. |
DoorSeal-Stewco |
DoorSeal-StewCo(2) |
Hanger-DamageSide |
Junk |
ProvoAir-Empty |
ProvoAir-hangerRow |
ProvoAirPHangerDamaged11-7-05 |
StewCoHange11-7-2005(2) |
StewCoHanger11-7-2005 |
StewCoHanger-Rear |
Weeds-RearStewCoHanger |