![]() The company earlier this year filed a lawsuit requesting the Erie County Court of Common Pleas to order the authority to proceed with the sale or pay costs incurred for the planned development. The authority subsequently notified NLA IV Real Estate Holdings that it could not proceed with the property sale. Those plans stalled in July 2021 when the FAA informed the Airport Authority that the property "must not be used for residential purposes." The 20.6-acre Wilkins Road property was sold for $400,000 in May 2021 to a local development firm that planned to build duplexes and townhomes on the site. May 2022: Developer takes Erie Airport Authority to court for failing to sell Wilkins Road property The FAA is asking for documentation on the property sale, including appraisal information, the deed of sale, the proposed use of the property and how sale proceeds have been used. The Powell Avenue property is also within the noise abatement area, according to an environmental study done for the airport's 1992 master plan, and may be subject to FAA guidelines concerning its use. Instead, the authority later used federal funding for the project to buy and raze the Orchard Park Mobile Home Park on Wilkins Road, which is within the airport's noise-abatement area. The authority planned to re-sell the properties and use the proceeds toward the cost of soundproofing homes close to the airport. The authority bought the property and two others nearby as part of a multi-year noise-abatement project. A home on the property at that time was later removed. was purchased by the Airport Authority in 1996 for $70,000. The half-acre property at 1426 Powell Ave. ![]() The Erie Regional Airport Authority authorized its sale in June 2020. The Powell Avenue propertyĪuthority-owned land on Powell Avenue in Millcreek, near Erie International Airport, was sold to a local development company for $30,000 in February 2021, according to Erie County property records. ERIE TIMES NEWS HEADLINES INSTALLThe money also paid the 25% local match for a $1.2 million Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation grant to install an additional passenger jet bridge and continue airport terminal roof improvements. The Airport Authority received almost $20 million in CARES funding allocated in 20.Īirport projects funded by the money include parking lot improvements and construction of a snow removal equipment building. Giannelli declined to comment on specifics of the FAA investigation, including whether bonuses were paid with the federal funding. How much CARES Act money was spent to fully fund employee pensions was not recorded.Ī Times-News review of authority minutes found no board action authorizing the use of CARES money for employee bonuses. 18, 2020, meeting available on the airport website. The Erie Regional Airport Authority authorized using CARES Act money to fully fund its obligation for airport employees' pensions in November 2020.Īirport Executive Director Derek Martin told authority members at the time that previous requests for reimbursement of $14,000 monthly payments to the pension fund had been approved and paid with CARES Act funding and that pension obligations are a permitted use of the money, according to minutes of the authority's Nov. The FAA letter asks that requested information be provided within 30 days.ĭerek Martin, executive director of Erie International Airport, is shown in the public waiting area at the airport in 2019. We look forward to providing the FAA with the requested information and to the resolution of this administrative review," he said. "The ERAA has always been a good steward of public funds and has an excellent working relationship with the FAA. ![]() The authority is gathering the information requested by FAA, Giannelli said. There is a process for citizens to ask FAA to investigate airport practices. The investigation most likely was initiated in response to a citizen's complaint concerning the use of federal funding, he said. The Erie Regional Airport Authority has received and invested more than $25 million in FAA funding over the last four years to improve the airport and its facilities and to ensure efficient airport operations, Giannelli said in an emailed response to an Erie Times-News inquiry about the FAA investigation. "The FAA doesn’t comment on open investigations or speculate about possible outcomes," FAA spokeswoman Emma Duncan said in an emailed response to Erie Times-News inquiries. The agency declined to provide additional details about the investigation and what the penalties might be if violations are found. ![]()
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