Cape sends airport eviction lawsuit to Scott County court

A lawsuit asking a circuit judge to evict Commander Premier Aircraft Corp. from a hangar at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport is expected to be filed today in circuit court, according to city attorney Eric Cunningham.

The lawsuit was mailed Thursday to the circuit court in Scott County, where the airport is located, Cunningham said.

"Basically it's an action for eviction," Cunningham said.

The filing is the next step in getting the bankrupt airplane manufacturer removed from city-owned property at the airport. The lawsuit was made possible last month when a Texas judge granted a motion to allow the city to move forward with eviction, despite the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"It's another step along the way," Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger said. "It's all legalities from here on in -- step-by-step legalities. We've just got to deal with it. We didn't really know going in how long it's going to take."

City officials have been fighting for months to get Commander to vacate a 52,000-square-foot hangar because the company hadn't made lease payments since 2007. In February, the city gave Commander 60 days to make back payments of about $1.2 million. When that didn't happen, the city terminated the lease May 16 and demanded that the property be vacated 30 days later.

On the 31st day, Commander began bankruptcy proceedings, which put a halt to the eviction process. But that was lifted by the Texas judge in Cape Girardeau's case because it had started evicting the company before the bankruptcy filing.

Cunningham said Commander officials will receive a summons and that a court date will come within 21 days.

The judge will consider who has right of possession of the building and the judge could issue an order granting the city possession of the hangar. Cunningham wouldn't hazard a guess on the time frame of when the issue will be settled, but he's hopeful the judge will side with the city.

"They haven't paid rent, we've given proper notices and we've terminated the lease," Cunningham said. "So I would certainly hope so."

Officials with Commander, who said last month they have given up trying to do business here, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport