FISCHER AGREES TO BOARD SUGGESTION

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer told the Cape Airport advisory board Tuesday he has no problem with Airport Manager Greg Chenoweth reporting to him instead of the assistant city manager, Doug Leslie.

"If that's what you want done," Fischer told airport advisory board president Bill Walker, "I have no problem with that."

Walker, in a series of charts, suggested Chenoweth was placed too low in the chain of command.

Chenoweth sees no problem with the way the system works currently.

"It doesn't really matter if I go to Doug or to the city manager," Chenoweth said following the advisory board's meeting.

The meeting included Cape Girardeau City Council members.

"I feel like if I want something, either one will do his best to get it for me," Chenoweth said.

The advisory committee wanted to recommend to the council a reorganization to make the airport a separate entity rather than a division under the public works department.

"From the position that the airport manager is now at, Mr. Leslie says that the manager can easily access needed equipment and services from the various divisions under the department of parks and recreation," Walker said.

"From a structural perspective, that means that in order for the airport manager, who only draws authority from transportation services to access with reasonable priority, he must come through transportation services, public works and the city manager then back down through the department and division where the needed equipment or service is located," Walker said adding that because there is no other chain of authority and responsibility, it must happen that way.

"Otherwise," he said, "you will have departments and divisions ignoring needs and-or antagonized by the process."

Leslie told the advisory board that things can move something up on the chart, but that won't change how things are done.

"We operate as a team and that means we work together to get things done," he said.

Walker cited the case of a request for a street sweeper.

On several occasions the airport manager requested a street sweeper, which the airport never got.

Leslie said the city has two street sweepers and both weren't functioning properly when the requests were made. A street sweeper was requested to remove foreign objects and debris from the runway.

Mayor Al Spradling III didn't see a need to make the airport a separate entity like the police or fire departments.

"It seems to me that it works well the way it is right now," Spradling said.

In other business, airport advisory member J. Fred Waltz said a critical issue is the status of the control tower.

The Federal Aviation Administration is looking at control towers in several cities to determine if they are necessary. The number of daily operations is important in determining the necessity of maintaining a tower for safety.

The daily operations in January, which include takeoffs and landings, exceeded those in January 1994 by 30 percent.

Spradling said the city is looking at the tower's status and are talking with Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond and others.

Spradling said the city is taking steps to ensure growth and development at the airport.