Franklin County Commission continues battle over airport land purchase

The battle between county commissioners over purchasing land near the Apalachicola airport ended in another stalemate on Tuesday. The board has found itself divided over the issue for months – leading a number of people to wonder why this issue is causing such contention. Basically the county has been given money from the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase 21 acres of undeveloped land at the end of the airport’s main runway to serve as a runway buffer zone. The airport advisory committee would like the county to purchase the property before it’s sold to someone who might develop it and affect airport operations. And if the county buys the first phase, the FAA will provide money to buy more property in the area for a total of about 70 acres. There are also some concerns that if the county doesn’t use the federal money soon that the FAA will take it back and give it to someone else and the county might still have to buy the land. When the issue first came before the county there were questions as to whether the landowners were asking too much for the land; at that time the price was close to 10 thousand dollars an acre. When the issue came before the board on Tuesday, the seller had agreed to accept 9000 dollars an acre. But the board still finds itself divided on the issue. Noah Lockley and Bevin Putnal have consistently voted to purchase the land, especially since it won’t cost any county money. Cheryl Sanders and Pinki Jackal have opposed the purchase leaving the board in a 2 to 2 deadlock. The commission chairman, Smokey Parrish, says he cannot vote on the issue because his employer is one of the landowners – though Parrish would support the purchase if he could vote on it. The board has already considered the issue three times with no change in the votes – its not known whether it will come before the board for a fourth time.