TORRINGTON – Former Torrington Municipal Airport manager Jerry Nash brought his attorney to the Torrington City Council meeting last week in an attempt to stave off the termination of his lease agreement for a hangar at the airport.
The city voted unanimously to table the termination, as Nash was able to provide proof that his airplane was out of town for a lengthy cockpit upgrade. Nash said he hopes to provide a charter service out of the hangar, and the city gave him two weeks to provide his plan for doing so.
City Public Works Director Jeff Harkins told the TCC there were no planes in the hangar, and that it was being used to house vehicles, while other local pilots were lining up for hangar space.
“Mr. Nash has only occasionally used the hangar to store aircraft,” Harkins said. “We have a waiting list of individuals with planes that would like some hangar space.”
The hangar under dispute has the space to house three to four planes, depending on the size, Harkins said, adding the city would convert the hangar into a community hangar.
“The more pilots with operational planes that we have in our airport will lead to an increased amount of fuel sales, which is our primary revenue source for the airport,” he said.
Nash’s attorney, Mervin Mecklenburg, told the council Nash’s plane would be stored in the hangar – if it weren’t being serviced. The plane has been at the mechanic for 13 months, Nash said.
“This hangar is valuable to him,” Mecklenburg said. “He hopes that if he explains what’s going on, you would give him some consideration. He realizes that the hangar has been empty for some time, but I think he would disagree with the characterization that it’s stored occasionally. There’s been a period of time recently when it was not here, that the reason is because it is currently in repair in Casper. It has been there for some time, the repairs have been delayed because of the coronavirus.”
Nash and Mecklenburg presented the TCC with a letter from the mechanic explaining why the plane has been gone.
Nash disputed the claim he uses the hangar to store vehicles. The only vehicles in the hangar, he said, were his car when his plane is gone, and another vehicle to help tow the plane in the winter.
Torrington Mayor Randy Adams pointed out there are people who could use space in the hangar.
“You understand the reason that we brought this forward is because we have seven people, pilots, looking for hangar space,” Adams said.
Nash maintained that once the plane’s upgrades are complete, he has plans to start a charter service out of the hangar. He told Adams he hopes to have the plane back in Torrington within a month, and then begin the process of forming the charter company. Nash said if his plans come to fruition, he would have multiple airplanes to fill the hangar.
“As far as the three spaces (in the hangar), my consideration was to have three airplanes,” Nash said. “And I would be buying quite a bit of fuel and my idea of the two. Right now, I’m kind of strapped a little bit because I’m on this airplane. It’s costing me.”
The city elected to hold off on terminating the lease, provided Nash can provide a plan and timeline as to when the charter service could get off the ground before the next TCC meeting.
Councilwoman Deanna Hill said the council would feel better about the lease if it had some proof that Nash’s plan is taking shape.
“I guess we need proof of that,” Hill said. “All I’m saying is I don’t mind going with what the mayor said and extending it out if we have proof of your checklist, with you getting x, x and x, and then put that you’re out to the airport board for this or inspection for this or your manual or whatever. That way we have knowledge to see that you were actually doing what you needed to be doing to finish.”
“We just need something we can work with,” Adams said. “It’s just that we need to have some guarantees. We don’t want another year with an airport hangar we’re not collecting revenue on.”
