AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER CONTRACT STILL UP IN THE AIR; CITY WANTS FAA APPROVAL TO RETAIN CONTRACT

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The city continues to operate the Municipal Airport control tower while officials try to convince the Federal Aviation Administration to abandon its contention that the tower contract be awarded to a private company.

Airport Manager Mark Seesing said he and Public Works Director Doug Leslie are considering the FAA's latest evaluation of the city's formal request not to let the control tower contract for bids.

The city last year took over control of the tower following complaints that the company that was paid to run it hadn't always provided the required number of traffic controllers.

The city was to operate the tower under a five-year contract with the FAA that was renewable each year. But the FAA in October refused to renew the control tower contract with the city, requiring instead that bids on the service be let.

The city's contract with the FAA expired Sept. 30, but the City Council in October extended the contract through December while officials evaluated the bids that were submitted. Since then, the contract was extended two more times to run through March.

Two private contractors and the city bid on the contract in November. Midwest Air Traffic Control of Industrial Airport, Kan., submitted the lowest bid.

Despite Midwest's apparently successful bid, Seesing said city officials maintain that the FAA should continue to let the city operate the contract. The FAA's last recommendation to Cape Girardeau was to award the contract to Midwest, Seesing said.

"We've got an extension (on the contract) until the end of March to continue operating the tower," the airport manager said. "Hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement by then.

"Right now, we're basically reviewing the comments made by the contracting officer in Kansas City. We're going to take that to the Airport Advisory Board and see what they have to recommend to the City Council."

Leslie said he didn't know how the FAA would respond to the city's attempts to maintain control of the tower operations. He said that even if the contract was awarded to Midwest, the city still would be responsible for enforcing the tower contract.

"It's a strange situation regarding areas of responsibility," Leslie said. "In essence, the funding (to operate the tower) is federal funding through the FAA to the city, with the city acting as an agent for the federal government.

"We put it out for bid at the direction of the FAA. In turn, it's the city's responsibility to award the contract to the successful bidder."

Leslie said that because the FAA subsidizes tower operations, the city can't "simply ignore" the federal agency's recommendation to award the contract to Midwest.

But, he said, as the FAA's agent, the city doesn't want to relinquish the tower contract to a private company that might not maintain the city's standards of operation.

"We feel that we simply can't ignore the FAA," Leslie said. "They're the funding agency, so we're either going to have to counter some of their concerns in this letter or go along with their recommendation."

Prior to last year, Barton Air Traffic Controllers Inc. of Murfreesboro, Tenn., had provided air traffic control at the airport since 1984. Barton operated the tower under a three-way contract with the FAA and Cape Girardeau.

When Barton's contract expired, the company's records showed the tower had been understaffed 16 of the 57 months it operated the service.

The company, under the contract, was required to provide a tower manager and three controllers. But on two occasions six days one time and three days the other only two controllers were assigned to the tower.

Seesing has said he fears the same problems could again occur if the tower operations are turned over to a private air-traffic-control company.

The city now pays four full-time control tower operators and has had little employee turnover and no staffing shortages during the past 11 months. But Seesing also said the city can't afford to "buck" the FAA.

"I don't know if the FAA can force us to do anything with it," he said. "It's possible they can make a recommendation and say this is the way it's supposed to be, but I don't know if they can come in and actually force us to do anything.

"But one of the major things here is we're going to try to maintain a working relationship with the FAA. We have to play both sides of the fence."

Seesing and Leslie said the matter will be taken to the Airport Advisory Board at its March meeting. The airport board's recommendation then would go to the City Council for further input.

Leslie said he plans to send the council's response to the FAA by the end of March.

Leslie said he also favored the city continuing to operate the tower under contract. But, he said, Midwest might provide very good tower service.

"It is a different company and we have to evaluate this company on their merits as opposed to Barton, which I understand is no longer in business," he said. "But we desire to keep the tower as a city operation, as it is."

Leslie said the FAA's charge to bid the contract apparently had nothing to do with poor traffic control service during the past year.

"It's simply a regulatory procedure as opposed to anything the city did or didn't do with respect to its operation of the contract," he said.