Board asks staff to craft lease options after EAA seeks discounted hangar amid displacement

Representatives of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Chapter 1298, asked the board for consideration of a significantly reduced hangar rate after the county declined to renew the chapter’s older low‑rent lease because the building reached the end of its useful life.

Mike Umstead (EAA acting president) described the chapter’s community programs — Young Eagles flights for youth, build‑and‑fly programs, safety seminars and a scholarship program that helped a local 18‑year‑old test‑pilot and earn his private pilot’s license. "These are done quarterly… All flights are free of charge," he said, noting volunteer hours and scholarship funds the chapter contributes to youth aviation education.

County staff reviewed FAA guidance and stated discounts to nonprofits are permitted but create precedent and "a slippery slope" because comparable discounts would have to be offered to other qualifying entities. Staff suggested alternatives including offering the EAA priority for first right of refusal on future hangars, a percentage‑based temporary discount, or paying full market rent while authorizing a county‑provided grant or rebate contingent on the chapter documenting agreed community benefits (events, free flights, scholarship amounts and volunteer hours).

Commissioners asked EAA to provide objective, periodic reporting of community value (number of youth flights, volunteer hours, scholarships and event attendance) that staff can incorporate into any concession or grant agreement. There was board consensus to direct staff to draft lease terms and a grant framework for consideration when a suitable hangar becomes available.