I am a nonpartisan candidate for county commissioner District 1. Having been at the airport my entire life I write to you with a heavy heart about the current county management and its finances.

Most are aware that the county airport has a large runway. Most are aware the runway is large because of the military, not civilian, needs. The military is a tenant. The military has paid nothing to Alpena for the use of the land. Nothing! The military did however snowplow the big runway (built for military needs) for more than 60 years as a form of in-kind payment in lieu of rent.

This in-kind obligation went away in 2015 with a new 10-year agreement called an AJUA (airport joint use agreement). With the stroke of a pen the military dumped the entire burden of snowplowing the large runway, the perimeter road, and the military munitions area on the backs of the Alpena County taxpayers. I estimate the added cost of the AJUA to be $600,000 per year.

Additionally the AJUA took away the safety shield of the air traffic control tower during non-tower operating hours (non-tower is more than 75% of the time). The county doesn’t have this safety asset. Two days in March 2022 (with the control tower closed) landing Skywest airliners nearly collided with county snowplows. As an airline transport rated pilot I can attest that both incidences came within one to three seconds of a fatal ending. Video available.

Now comes the county wanting more of your tax money to pay for this AJUA financial disaster. A “yes” vote for the county tax proposal will condemn the elderly and the poor to more taxes they can’t afford. I am begging you to vote “NO” on the county tax proposal.

JEFF WELCH,

Alpena