January 7, 2002

David Hales, City Manager
City of Bend
710 NW Wall Street
Bend, Oregon 97709

Dear David,

Thank you for meeting with the Oregon Pilots Association’s Central Oregon Chapter in December. I want to follow up on our comments about the benefits of formally adopting a set of policy guidelines and objectives for management and development of the Bend Municipal Airport.

As noted, the absence of this guidance made the update of the Airport Layout Plan more difficult for City staff, the Council, and the Ad Hoc Airport Technical Committee. This policy vacuum, which would give a priority to airport management, continues to impede the administrative process leading to adoption of the ALP by all jurisdictions, and slows implementation of safety improvements and other needed developments at the airport.

The social and economic benefits the Municipal Airport brings to the community are too valuable to allow management of this asset to drift along with “as time permits” attention. One cannot criticize the response of overburdened City staff, however, when their priorities are set by Council endorsement of other developments.

The City’s Ad Hoc Airport Technical Committee should be tasked to prepare an initial draft of guidelines and objectives for management and development of the Municipal Airport. This committee has representation from the airport neighbors, the pilots and users of the airport, and the community at large, and could become a fair substitute for the Neighborhood Association programs available within the city limits.

Completion of this task needs to be accomplished in time to help provide a basis for the budget decisions being made in the next few months.

Sincerely,

Dale R. Evans, Member
Ad Hoc Airport Technical Committee

cc: Mike Elmore, Public Works