City wants to lose risk baggage

BRISTOL, Va. – With plans to form an independent governing authority at Tri-Cities Regional Airport grounded by uncertainty, city leaders plan to seek another source of financial protection.
Bristol, Va., is one of six local governments sharing ownership of the Blountville, Tenn., -based airport, but the only one not covered by Tennessee’s tort liability insurance. In the event of a judgment in a catastrophic accident or other lawsuit, the city could be found liable for an unlimited amount of money. State insurance caps damages for Tennessee-based governments at $450,000.
An airport authority, in addition to overseeing operations, would insulate all owners from such claims.
Bristol, Va., city leaders met with airport officials numerous times this year and have studied the concept.
“We plan to try and work with the state of Tennessee, after the first of the year, to try to get this resolved,” Bristol, Va., Mayor Jim Rector said. “We’ve talked with our lawmakers and now we need to try to get some direction from Tennessee.”
Virginia state Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, thinks an old agreement between former governors George Allen of Virginia and Don Sundquist of Tennessee should cover the city and extend state insurance coverage.
“Gov. Allen and Gov. Sundquist met one day at Acme Hot Dog in Bristol, Tenn., and jointly agreed each state would help either city, in the event of a problem. I believe something like this would be covered by that agreement,” Wampler said.
City anxieties rose late in November, after the Sullivan County Commission voted to withdraw its support for the authority concept. Airport officials have said the plan wouldn’t proceed without unanimous support from the owners. In addition to Bristol, Va., and Sullivan County, Tenn., the owners are Bristol, Tenn., Johnson City, Kingsport and Washington County, Tenn.
In the wake of Sullivan’s vote, airport leaders plan to re-examine the authority issue, airport Director Patrick Wilson said.
“The airport executive committee has previously been studying this. They plan to meet after the first of the year, to pick the issue up and see what the next step might be,” Wilson said.
Rector, who also serves on the committee and the full Airport Commission, predicted its future was uncertain.
“After Sullivan County took their position, we’ll probably revisit the issue. With the economy like it is, there may be more pressing issues the airport needs to work on than the authority.”
Asked about how the Sullivan vote could impact the authority plan, Wilson said that will be up to the committee, which isn’t expected to proceed without the support of every owner.
“I don’t think they’re [Sullivan] opposed, they just withdrew their previous support,” Wilson said.
Sullivan County Mayor Steve Godsey agreed, saying commissioners want to revisit the issue.
“Since nothing was being done, the commission didn’t want that [2003] vote out there, that we were the only ones supporting it,” Godsey said. “I think, overall, the commission will go along with the authority – once it’s looked at. I don’t read a whole lot into that vote.”
Godsey said the primary reason for establishing the authority is to expedite the approval of federal and state transportation grants, and he is ready to propose an alternative.
“Each owner could pass a resolution at the beginning of each year, authorizing the Airport Commission to accept grants on our behalf,” Godsey said. “Everybody would have to pass it at the beginning of each year. But that doesn’t address the issue of liability.”
Godsey, a former state representative, said he isn’t sure if the gubernatorial agreement would be enough to cover Bristol, Va., in the event of a lawsuit.
Rector said an accident, or other catastrophic event, isn’t the city’s only worry.
“Without the authority, each owner is responsible for their share of the airport’s debt,” Rector said. “The bonds are issued in the name of Sullivan County, but each owner agrees to guarantee its [percentage] share. That means, if the airport defaulted for whatever reason, Bristol, Va., would be responsible for 10 percent.”
The airport currently has almost $8 million in bond debt, Wilson said.
“Our business model says that when funds come into the airport, they first go to pay those debts,” Wilson said. “Any other funds go into airport accounts. If for some reason all those were depleted, it would fall back to the six county and city owners to back that debt. It’s been that way since the airport was established.”
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