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Payson residents and aviators press council on hangar lease rates, airport amenities and EAA roundabout airplane support
Summary
Several airport users told council they face higher per‑square‑foot hangar rates, lease restrictions and unclear lease terms; Experimental Aircraft Association volunteers asked for a town letter supporting an ADOT encroachment permit for an airplane display on a roundabout.
Multiple Payson residents, pilots and airport advocates used the meeting’s public comment period to press council and staff about airport management, hangar lease terms and a separate local aviation project.
Tom West, president of the local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter and renter of three hangars at the PHO (Payson Municipal Airport), said lease rates assigned to older, smaller hangars were substantially higher on a per‑square‑foot basis than rates for larger hangars at the fuel pits. He said current leases do not allow multiple signers, LLCs or corporate lessees, and he called those limits “unreasonable” and potentially discriminatory. West said he planned to file a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration if the town did not address the differential rates.
Dale Mueller, a local flight instructor and airport advocate, told the council the airport needs routine maintenance and modest pilot‑amenity improvements — including a simple gathering space and reliable public Wi‑Fi — to serve transient pilots and to host Young Eagles and other youth events. Mueller said recent simple repairs (for example, replacing burned‑out ramp lights) had been done by advocates rather than through routine town maintenance.
Marie Husano, representing the EAA Roundabout Beautification Committee, said the committee has funds to install an airplane as a roundabout feature at Highway 87 and Airport Road, and that Arizona Department of Transportation had indicated support and an encroachment permit could be issued if the town provides a letter of support. She asked the town manager for a letter; the town manager said he believed the previous council had approved the plan and that he may have authority to issue a support letter without bringing it back to council if legal review is clear.
Town manager Jerry Caldwell responded to several requests by saying staff would follow up, check lease files and the scope of prior direction to staff, and coordinate with the airport commission. Council members asked staff to confirm whether lease terms had been changed from prior practice and to provide a fuller report at a future meeting.
No formal council action was taken at this meeting; staff said they would return with findings and, where appropriate, bring lease or policy changes to the council for consideration.
