Airport Authority OKs expanded flight school, forestalls rent break

The Carson City Airport Authority unanimously approved a Clearwater Flight Academy request to expand flight school activities, a change likely to kick off in March.Members voted without dissent Wednesday to approve the academy’s status as a Class 2 FBO flight school for activities that include pilot training and aircraft rentals, a move that adds commercial to individual instruction.Steve Poscic, who has Carson Aviation Adventures and Carson Aviation Services and is a member of the authority, didn’t participate in the discussion or vote because of his interest in the project.Earlier in the year, when the idea came to light publicly, there also were indications Poscic hopes the upgrade will enhance maintenance business handled by his firm.The authority board also previewed a survey done of airspace at the Carson City Airport and, in a separate matter, heard from Perry Di Loreto of Reno, who sought and then withdrew a rent-abatement request.Adam Wilhelm, a project manger with Foth Infrastructure & Environment in Iowa, said the airspace-analysis survey was nearly done and showed mixed results.“The current approaches into the airport, as you’re aware, aren’t very robust,” he said. Wilhelm added that the key approach requirement looks clear and characterized that as good news.He said, however, that Federal Aviation Authority review of matters might take two years or more. Authority Chairman Harlow Norvell wasn’t pleased with that time-frame estimate, hoping for earlier upgrades for the airport to handle larger planes and night traffic. Di Loreto, a Reno developer, asked for abatement on his limited-liability company’s rental at the airport, but he withdrew it after a discussion in which authority members said it could cause of flood of such requests.“We’re victims of the tragic economic circumstance,” he said, talking of a hangar-development project that hadn’t gone well. Di Loreto said he would continue talking with airport officials about what might be done, though he also noted one option might be to drop the project.The authority later was told the rental amounted to about $1,400 monthly.