by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority has given the mayor’s office a deadline to get everything in place regarding the possible conversion of Cecil Field back into a Navy master jet base.
In a letter to Mayor John Peyton, Aviation Authority chairman Ron Weaver said if everything isn’t resolved by June 1 of next year, the Aviation Authority will proceed with its growth plans.
“It will be our intent to aggressively move forward with our plans to permanently operate the airport as a commercial, general aviation airport within JAA’s system of airports,” wrote Weaver, who will be chair until Saturday when Mary Burnett takes over.
Weaver said the June 1 deadline is based on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s March deadline for Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va. to respond to recent BRAC requirements or be closed. That would likely relocate 11,000 personnel and approximately 233 aircraft to Cecil. Should the BRAC Commission choose to close Oceana, the Department of Defense’s Inspector General then has until June 1 to submit a report that would approve the closing of Oceana and the reopening of Cecil.
Several weeks ago, the Authority’s board voted to approve a resolution that supported Peyton’s and Gov. Jeb Bush’s stance on Cecil. Weaver said he and Authority Executive Director and CEO, John Clark, have maintained a steady dialogue with Peyton concerning the issue and both are well aware of the financial implications that closing Cecil could have on the Authority.
“We have spoken to the mayor and he understands,” said Weaver, adding the Authority is in status quo mode regarding the Westside airport and commerce center. “We are in limbo right now. We support the governor and the mayor, but by June 1 we’ve got to have a decision.”
Earlier this month, Clark sent a memo to City Council member Ronnie Fussell detailing the financial impact Cecil has on the Authority’s operations and budget. In summary, Clark informed Fussell that Cecil is worth about $1 billion to the Authority, although that value could be much higher if long-term, potential dollars are figured into the equation.
In addition to the current value, the Authority is also concerned about future worth and potential loss. Within the past year, the Authority has remodeled its facilities at Cecil; Flightstar, a maintenance, overhaul and repair service recently relocated from Jacksonville International Airport to a brand new facility with a 200,000 square-foot hangar; and Signature Flight Support, a fixed-base operator (FBO), has opened a remodeled facility. Those tenants, and many others, are the basis for much of Cecil’s growth and economic expansion. According to the Authority, because there is so much space at Cecil, replicating many of those services at JIA is next to impossible. Therein lies much of the indeterminate value of Cecil.
The City and the State have pledged $200 million to help pay tenant relocation costs. Matt Eaton, the vice president of corporate development for Flightstar, said there will be plenty of time to relocate if Oceana is closed, but the company did just open a brand new facility.
“Obviously, we are just getting into our new quarters,” said Eaton. “Actually, we are in the process of completing our move now. It will be a long time, if it happens — it’s five or six years away. We have an ongoing dialogue with JAA and the mayor’s office and want to make sure our future is secure in the Jacksonville area.
“We are the anchor tenant at Cecil with 300 jobs and we’ll have 700 employees in the next 36 months. We would prefer not to move, obviously, because of our business interests and the infrastructure in place.”