Ben Epps Airport

I find the tussling between the Unified Government and the Clarke County Airport Authority interesting, though wholly unnecessary, because the issue of control of Ben Epps Airport should have been settled long ago.

In March 1988, prior to city-county unification, the General Assembly created the Clarke County Airport Authority through Act 1132 (which originated as Senate Bill 245, see Georgia Laws 1988, pages 4906-4922). This local law was incorporated verbatim as Part II Chapter 4 of the Unified Government’s Charter.

For whatever reason, no progress has been made on turning control of the airport over to the Authority since then. The Authority passed a formal resolution requesting the Unified Government transfer control of the airport to it in 2000. In 2002, the Authority reaffirmed the resolution and submitted a proposed management agreement to the Unified Government that would transfer control of the airport to the Authority. To date, no action has been taken on either.

As Section 23 of the local law creating the Authority and its incorporation into the Charter plainly imply, the intent was to transfer control of Ben Epps Airport to the Authority. In the almost two decades since the Authority was created, why has that not happened?

And yes, I have copies of the relavent documents.

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