September
4, 2014
Tracy
Press
By
TP staff
The Tracy City Council tried Tuesday to
finally put to rest questions about the city’s handling of runway length at
Tracy Municipal Airport, which resulted in a Grand Jury investigation.
The San Joaquin County Grand Jury published a
report on June 9 that concluded that the City Council acted on wrong
information from city staff that might have jeopardized federal grants and
undermined the city’s credibility with citizens.
Tuesday, the staff presented the council with
draft responses — which the city is required by law to make — to the five
findings within the Grand Jury report.
Discussion of the proper responses took
almost two hours during the regular meeting of the City Council and resulted in
the council agreeing with all of the Grand Jury’s findings.
The Grand Jury found that the city staff
provided the council with inaccurate and incomplete information when the
council voted on June 18, 2013, to reduce the length of runway 12/30. The
council not only agreed with the finding but also directed the staff to make a
report of all safety zone requirements regarding airport runway length for the
council’s review.
The council also agreed with the Grand Jury
finding that although the council did not enter into a business agreement to
change the runway length that would have benefited the Ellis project being
developed by Surland Cos., a memo from Surland proposing the deal did create a
perception of an improper agreement.
The council likewise agreed with the Grand
Jury’s conclusion that a change in runway length — outlined in the proposal
from Surland — could have jeopardized Federal Aviation Administration grants
for medium-sized airports.
The Grand Jury also recommended that the city
adopt a policy governing third-party payments for contractual obligations to
the city, after reviewing a $50,000 payment made by Surland to cover money owed
to the city by Turlock Air, then the fuel provider at the airport.
The council agreed with the finding that the
city had no procedures for accepting third-party checks and directed the city
staff to follow the state law that governs such payments.
The final finding of the Grand Jury dealt
specifically with Turlock Air and the fact that the city extended the company’s
contract to provide fuel for the airport despite public information — which was
later found to be in error — that the contractor was not in compliance with
state licensing.
The City Council agreed with the finding and directed
the city staff to add language into contracts requiring those who do business
with the city to provide proof, when applicable, that they are licensed by the
state.
The council voted unanimously to file the
response with the San Joaquin County Grand Jury. Councilman Robert Rickman and
Mayor Brent Ives said they were glad to finally put the controversy behind the
city.
• Contact the Tracy Press at
tpnews@tracypress.com or 830-4231.
No comments:
Post a Comment