by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Lake Ray has been a City Council member and is now a state representative. Over the course of his political career, he has attached his name to dozens of bills.
In sponsoring House Bill 143, which was recently passed by the state Legislature and needs only the signature of Gov. Charlie Crist, Ray may have done the most good by pushing for the least.
“This one took some work,” said Ray. “It’s just two words and three commas inserted into an existing statute.”
The bill, which was sponsored in the state Senate by Sen. Thad Altman, will make it easier for airplane manufacturers to build planes in Florida and specifically at Cecil Field.
Currently, aircraft manufacturers are exempt from what are called concurrency fees as long as the work is maintenance or repair of an aircraft. Those same manufacturers must pay concurrency fees if they intend to build new aircraft. That concurrency includes approval from local planning departments.
The legislation would also exempt assembly and manufacturing hangars, making it easier for Alenia North America to build its proposed $100 million aircraft manufacturing plant at Cecil Field.
“The Jacksonville Aviation Authority asked me to sponsor the bill. It gives us better opportunities to attract different businesses,” said Ray. “It’s an extra tool to attract business to Florida as a whole and Cecil Field specifically.
In December 2006, the JAA and Alenia reached an agreement to build 78 C-27J Spartan aircraft for the Department of Defense. Since then, the DOD hasn’t been able to settle on exactly how many, if any, aircraft it will actually order. Last month, the JAA’s board of directors voted to extend the lease with Alenia for a second time. The current extension expires Sept. 30.
At Monday’s JAA board meeting, authority Executive Director and CEO Steve Grossman talked about the legislation’s effect on the Alenia project.
“One of our big priorities was to obtain through legislation an exemption on concurrency for aircraft manufacturing at hangars,” said Grossman. “I am pleased to report the Legislature has passed legislation that contains that exemption. It goes to the governor’s desk this week.”
Both Ray and Grossman expect Gov. Charlie Crist to sign the bill. However, Crist doesn’t have to sign the legislation. As long as he doesn’t veto it, the bill becomes law.
“We are not competing with just Florida, but other states in the Southeast that don’t have concurrency fees,” said Grossman after the meeting. “This levels the playing field.”
According to Grossman, the latest number of aircraft the DOD planned to order from Alenia was 34. That, he said, isn’t high enough to justify building a $100 million assembly hangar. However, he’s optimistic the DOD will eventually order the original 78 aircraft and, with the passage of the legislation, Alenia will continue with its plans to build the aircraft at Cecil Field.
The project is in the district of Council member Daniel Davis. Earlier this month, Davis asked Crist for his support of the bill.
“Competing states in the Southeast do not have many costly requirements and we need this exemption specifically for aviation/aerospace economic development projects,” said Davis in a letter to Crist. “These bills will allow Cecil Commerce Center to become a greater job generator in Northeast Florida and our community would appreciate your support.”
The entire JAA board also signed a letter to Crist asking for his support.
“In these difficult economic times, Florida communities need all the help they can get,” the letter said. “This proposed bill could lead to new economic activity and the creation of high-wage aviation jobs.”
In other news from the JAA meeting:
• Grossman said he’s close to hiring a new security director. A list of 157 applicants was pared to eight and then to four.
“I have interviewed all four and the great news is all four could do the job,” he said, adding he expects to name the new director this week.
• The first nonstop flights from Jacksonville International Airport to Chicago were mostly full, said Grossman. “The business community has accepted that flight,” he said, adding the JAA is working on adding two daily flights to Baltimore. “That’s a good sign we are starting to turn the corner. The next year to 18 months should see traffic grow.”
• The JAA is continuing to push for service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Grossman said he’s focusing on AirTran and Jet Blue and hopes to have something to report in the next couple months.
• According to CFO Richard Rossi, the air travel industry may be slowly improving. “We are starting to see signs that we are bottoming out and improving,” said Rossi. In his monthly report, Rossi indicated concessions were down in March, but retail numbers were up. He said parking revenues were also down, but the decrease was single digits as opposed to the double digits of several previous months.
• The next meeting of the JAA board is 8:30 a.m. May 24 in the Ed Austin Board Room.
356-2466