[JYO] Airport Panel Knocks ID Cards, Prop Locks Off Security List

_http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=1&newsid=8667_ 
(http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=1&newsid=8667) 
Airport Panel Knocks ID Cards, Prop Locks Off  Security List
_Andrew D. Parker_ (mailto:andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)  

Mar 17, 2004 -- The  town’s Airport Commission last night recommended 12 of 
15 actions designed to  boost security at Leesburg Executive Airport. The 
commission also backed two  initiatives proposed by a subcommittee established 
to 
study security at the  airport, at the same time rejecting proposals to require 
ID badges, parking  passes and a lock system for each aircraft. 
While members noted that general aviation airports are typically not  
considered likely targets for terrorist activity, the commission supported most 
 of 
the 13 short-term security proposals laid out by Leesburg Police Chief Joseph  
Price in a presentation last June.  
The list of items supported by Price and already completed by town staff  
members includes continuing current security measures; completing a security  
plan; and conducting a self-security audit. Other initiatives currently 
underway  
include initiation of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Airport 
Watch  Program; increased enforcement of hangar and tie-down assignments; 
conducting an  annual safety survey of town hangars; and increased inventory 
checks to 
be held  twice a year.  
Also approved by the commission and backed by Price, but not yet underway,  
are installation of the first phase of a perimeter fence; requiring transient  
pilots and visitors to sign in; and posting “No Trespassing” signs around 
the 
 perimeter of the airort. The commission also recommended relocating the pole 
 gate to the south entrance once the fence is installed and inviting the 
police  department to participate in an airport and aircraft orientation and 
training  session.  
The commission did not back a proposal to require a locking system for each  
aircraft. Pilots and commission members specifically questioned whether “prop 
 
locks,” or locks designed to wrap around an airplane’s propeller, could 
damage  the plane’s engine. Commission member William L. Whyte, who led the 
security  subcommittee, pointed out that most pilots already have two or three 
locks 
and  said they should be encouraged to have as many locks as 
“realistically” 
 possible.  
Commissioners also questioned the need for ID badges.  
“I just don’t see the need for this yet,” said Commission member Dennis  
Boykin, who is active in the security subcommittee and was recently appointed 
to  
the commission. Boykin also pointed out that having a requirement for pilots 
to  getan ID badge would add another layer of regulation and ultimately not be 
 “customer-friendly.”  
In addition to prop locks and ID badges, enforcement was at the top of the  
list of concerns about requiring parking passes at the airport. Commission  
Chairman Stephen Axeman also said it would be a burden to the town staff to  
distribute, produce and issue the parking passes.  
All of the initiatives backed by the commission passed on a unanimous vote  
with two members absent. Price is also recommending some proposals for the near 
 future and some long-term initiatives.  
Meanwhile, the airport commission will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. March 
 29 to open bids for tenant spaces in the expanded terminal, which is 
scheduled  for substantial completion by that date and occupancy by mid April, 
according to  Interim Airport Director Cindi Martin. The commission will also 
hear  
presentations on a gateway tourism project for the airport at the meeting, 
which  will be held in the basement of the town governmnt center.  
At a special meeting in late February, the commission set the lease rate for  
tenants in the new terminal building at $25.04 per square foot, including  
maintenance and utility costs. The commission initially set the lease rate at  
$24.82 without utilities or maintenance costs, but several pilots and users  
questioned the rate at a Leesburg Town Council meeting Feb. 10. Prior to  
construction on the $3 million expansion to the airport terminal, the airport  
charged $17.48 per square foot, with utilities and maintenance included.  
At general aviation airports in Manassas and Frederick, MD, lease rates range 
 between $10 and $13 per square foot, but the roughly $10-$12 rate at 
Frederick  airport does not include utilities and the roughly $12.50 rate at 
Manassas 
does  not include maintenance, also known as janitorial services. But 
comparisons to  Frederick and Manassas should not be made, according to Martin, 
as 
those two  airports have different lease structures and circumstances than in 
Leesbug.  
Around the region and county, lease rates at general aviation airports “vary  
considerably,” said Frederick Airport Manager Charlie Abell. He added that,  
historically, general aviation airports have not been able to obtain market  
rents from tenants, but managers are trying to get their lease rates more  
up-to-date “because we have to,” Abell said, in order to help pay for 
airport  
improvements such as Leesburg’s terminal expansion.

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