Council approves North Hangar lease; staff to clarify renewal wording

The Augusta City Council voted to approve a new lease for the North Hangar at Augusta Municipal Airport, awarding the space to a company calling itself King Air 3AU. The lessee will renovate the hangar, replace and widen the door to accommodate larger aircraft, remove interior office space to expand aircraft capacity, repaint the exterior, refinish the floor and seal-and-stripe a southern parking lot — all at the lessee’s expense.

Airport manager Randy described the selection process, saying staff met three prospective applicants and recommended King Air 3AU based on their proposed investment and the type of aircraft they plan to base at Augusta. “They’re going to put a new door on that hangar, as well as widening the hangar,” Randy said, adding the group plans to engage in aircraft sales and aircraft management as part of their operations.

Staff described financial concessions built into the agreement to recognize the lessee’s investment: a 33% rent concession in the first year tied to the tenant’s construction, a 10% concession in the second year and then annual adjustments thereafter tied to the airport lease study and a 2% annual rate increase. Council members sought clearer renewal wording; the lease’s term language originally read that the lease “will be renewed in 3-year agreements” after the initial five-year term. Council asked the city attorney to revise that paragraph so renewals are not automatic and so the city has an explicit opportunity to assess terms at renewal.

The council approved the lease on a motion, with the approval explicitly “subject to” the city attorney clarifying/rewording the term/renewal paragraph so it reflects council’s intent. Staff said the clarified language will be circulated to council after the attorney’s edits and that no further council action would be required to complete the wording change.