Airport buys 'rainy day' land

Airport buys 'rainy day' land

Board has no plans so far for just-bought properties

By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 01/13/09


The St. Augustine-St. Johns County Airport Authority on Monday decided to buy a house at 131 Indian Bend Road for $222,000 and a junk-filled lot at 141 Araquay Ave. for $40,000.

However, at the moment, the board doesn't know what it wants to do with either parcel.

Executive Director Ed Wuellner said the two property owners were willing -- even eager -- to sell.

"We don't need the land now, but someday we will -- maybe 10 years down the road -- and then it will be much more expensive," he said.

The Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to pay half the cost under a grant, so the Authority will pay $131,000 for property worth much more, Wuellner said.

"That will round out the purchase under the FDOT grant," he said.

The airport mainly lies to the north of Araquay Avenue and east of Casa Cola Drive. Only a dozen or so properties on the west side of Casa Cola remain in private hands.

Wuellner said the airport will make offers to buy parcels there only if the landowners want to sell.

But board member Jack Gorman said buying properties outside means that eventually the airport will need the remaining property and force owners to sell.

"We'll have to fill the hole," he said.

And eminent domain was an action the board had once promised never to do again, he said.

Board member Wayne George said there may be uses for the property already acquired, implying that the airport might never need to buy the holdout properties.

"That will keep us out of eminent domain," George said. "I don't think there was an impression in anyone's mind that we'd never go west of Casa Cola. But if we don't know what we are going to do with the property (we've purchased), we need to sell what we've got."

The board's new chair, Kelly Barrera, said the acquired land would be used, even though it looks like a patchwork quilt, In the end, the board members asked Wuellner to explore what those uses could be.

George made a motion to purchase, and it passed 4-1 with Gorman dissenting.

John Roderick, liaison to the airport from the St. Augustine Airport Pilot's Association, told the board, "If people are willing to sell, then you should buy it,"



New board members sworn in

The two newest members of the Airport Authority took the oath of office Monday night.

Board attorney Doug Burnett swore in James S. Werter of Group 4 and Carl Yeoman of Group 5. Both were elected in November, but this was their first official meeting.

After the swearing in, they were applauded by airport staff, board members and members of the public.

They posed for photographs. Yeoman posed with his wife Connie, his two sons and a grandson.

Leaving the board are Chairwoman Suzanne Green, an attorney, and board member Randy Brunson, a custom builder.

Brunson was absent, but Green said, "It's been a wonderful eight years. I'll miss it, but I'll come back."

Board member Kelly Barrera was elected as new chairwoman and Yeoman as secretary/treasurer.

Werter, a St. Augustine attorney, holds a commercial pilot's license and two instructor ratings and is a member of the St. Augustine Airport Pilot's Association.

He received 51.97 percent of the vote to beat opponent Joseph J. Lopinto Jr.'s 48.03 percent.

Yeoman, a retired railroad executive and small-business owner, won in Group 5 over opponent Herb Rippe, 56.57 percent to 43.43 percent.


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