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Resident urges consideration of landing fee and questions consultant arrangement with airport
Summary
Public commenter Steve Sherman urged the committee to revisit a tabled landing-fee proposal and said several Florida airports are adopting fees; he also questioned whether the city's temporary contract with a consulting firm with FBO ties could present a conflict of interest. Staff responded that a separate consulting firm was hired by the city and confirmed the staff speaker also works for the FBO.
Steve Sherman, a local resident, used the public-comment period to ask whether the city had progressed on a previously tabled landing-fee discussion and to raise a potential conflict concern about the city's temporary airport management arrangement. Sherman said several Florida airports (including Orlando Executive, New Smyrna Beach, Titusville and others) are adopting landing fees and suggested a small fee could raise revenue and dissuade non-tenant aircraft that raise safety concerns; he referenced a report of "over 200 conflicts in 4 months" related to a class C airspace proposal.
Sherman also asked whether the city had hired the FBO as the airport manager temporarily and said "it seems to me like that might be a conflict of interest." Staff responded that the city hired a separate consulting firm to perform the management function and acknowledged the staff speaker also works for the FBO; staff characterized the setup as not uncommon and not necessarily inappropriate but noted differing opinions could exist.
The committee did not take formal action on either the landing-fee topic or the conflict question during the meeting; staff said a prior motion had tabled the landing-fee discussion pending resolution of the Class C airspace proposed rulemaking, though Sherman suggested the fee discussion could proceed separately from airspace rulemaking.
