The vote was held at a June 5 special meeting of the authority.
The terms proposed by The Peoples Bank will provide a total line of credit of $1.2 million financed at a 3.55 percent fixed rate over 20 years. During the first six months, the authority will pay interest only on any amount withdrawn. Under the terms of the agreement, the interest only term can be extended for an additional six months. At the end of the interest only period, the loan will be converted to equal, amortized payments to be made over the life of the loan.
As a condition of the loan, all deposit accounts and certificates of deposit will be moved to The Peoples Bank. All bank fees and origination fees were waived.
The loan will be secured by an assignment of all current and future rents and leases from airport owned properties. The lien will be superior to all other liens or claims against the airport. Currently, the employment contract with the county is the only obligation which needs to be subordinated.
The Peoples Bank will also require audited financial reports beginning in the next fiscal year. Attorney John Stell advised the authority that they would need to coordinate with the county to have an official audit prepared each year.
The authority will also be required to provide documentation of their tax exempt status, copies of current leases and a copy of the lease applicant list.
Stell said the line of credit would not be an obligation of Barrow County, or any other entity.
“It is solely the responsibility of the authority to be paid back from operational income – the assignment of rents and leases,” he said.
Authority member Don Holliday explained to the audience, which included District 3 commissioner Bill Healan, district 2 commission candidate Eva Elder and county chairman candidate Jim Beckemeyer, that there was no particular reason for the line of credit.
“We established the line of credit to cover needs,” he said. “A lot of times, we’re requested by the FAA to put up funds upfront and then get reimbursed.”
Holliday said having the line of credit will eliminate the need to go to the county for this type of funding.
“The only project we have on the board currently that we’re considering is the new corporate hangars,” he said. “And we haven’t even got to the site prep work on that.”
According to airport director Glen Boyd, one corporate client has expressed a desire to construct a hangar at the airport and is ready to build. The airport authority has agreed to do ground preparation work for the project. Boyd said several other potential corporate clients have expressed interest in building hangars.
In other business, the authority announced the hiring of Eddie Edwards as the new operations manager for the airport. Edwards is a former employee of the airport.
The authority also announced that it would pay a total of $20,370 to three tenants living in rental houses on land condemned by the airport. Two of the tenants will receive relocation expenses of $6,735 each while the third will receive a check for $6,900.
The houses are on land which will be used to install the instrument landing system for the airport. The FAA will reimburse the authority for the relocation expenses, according to Holliday.
The next meeting of the authority will be held June 17 at 12 p.m. in the terminal building at the airport.
