When does Hook Field become self-sustaining?

Airport is packed, but still needs money

Dennis Kuhn, a skydiver with Black and Blue Trax based at Hook Field in Middletown looks out to make sure the airspace is clear on Friday, Sept. 3, as he and about 20 other parachutists prepare to jump.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Dennis Kuhn, a skydiver with Black and Blue Trax based at Hook Field in Middletown looks out to make sure the airspace is clear on Friday, Sept. 3, as he and about 20 other parachutists prepare to jump.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 1:28 AM Sunday, September 5, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — For residents to get a sense of how well Hook Field airport is doing, they need only look to the skies and see the sky divers and planes streaming in. But as to whether all that action will equate to less support from the city of Middletown to keep it running remains to be seen.

The airport has traditionally been subsidized by the city of Middletown’s general fund. But until this year, something it could never boast was being at full capacity.

From the sky diving group Team Fastrax to the Butler County Warbirds, which are expected to try to squeeze in a new airplane museum, Rich Bevis, airport manager, said his hangars are filled and he is having to consider how to build out other areas.

The excess tenants are expected to equate to an estimated $250,000 in leases and rentals this year. But coupled with fuel sales and other collections, as recorded in the city airport fund, the airport still requires the $90,000 designated by the city for the airport fund to make ends meet.

Realistically, Bevis said he is not sure if the airport will ever be able to operate independently from the city, but he believes the successes garnered in 2010 are moving it closer.

“The fact that we have been able to add all these people when (other businesses) look like a ghost town, I think we are pretty break-even at this point or close to making money,” he said.

Growth always equates to more money, and Bevis said new sewer and water lines will allow for the possibility of new hangars someday. One obstacle to that is the current setup of electrical meters.

Bevis said when the airport was originally laid out, a limited number of utility meters were set up at the hangars. With multiple groups using each space, most pay a flat rate with their rent, regardless of how much electricity they use.

“The goal would be to ... switch to individual meters, but that is expensive,” he said.

City officials are in the process of moving oversight of the airport from Public Works to Economic Development. The idea behind the change is to use the airport as a tool to market the city and its assets for new businesses and residents, said Mike Robinette, economic development director.

Councilman Dan Picard, who is on the airport commission, said the city needs to take a harder look at the airport’s finances and leases for ways to generate more money from its operations.

“I see it as a development tool, and I see it as something that should be regularly generating money instead of being sustained by the government,” Picard said. “It has come a long way, but I am not happy with just that.”

Hook Field has options to grow larger

Airport hangars may be at capacity at Hook Field in Middletown, but whether that will lead to a self-sustaining airport has yet to be determined.

According to airport manager Rich Bevis, recent additions, including a pending lease with the Butler County Warbirds to add an airplane museum, have filled up his hangars to capacity.

As a nontowered airport with the longest runway in Southwest Ohio, Bevis said area companies such as AK Steel, SunCoke Inc., Wausau Paper and Midwest Products commonly use the site to fly in supplies and clients.

As a result of all the activity, the airport should net $250,000 in lease payments alone. That doesn’t include fuel sales and event profits.

The city, which has traditionally subsidized the airport’s finances with the general fund, designated $90,000 for the airport fund in 2010.

Councilman Dan Picard said his goal is to see how Hook Field can leverage its increased leases to require less government assistance.

“I’m very excited about what’s going on at the airport,” he said. “With everything being leased out right now I understand … things have gotten better, but they are not where I would like them to be, and I think council needs to re-evaluate them.”

With only four months left in the year, if costs remain as projected, Hook Field only needs to bring $890 in on its own to meet its budget goal of $6,510 in revenues left in the fund at year’s end, according to the airport fund.

So the question is, how can the airport grow enough from this point to be self-sustaining while at full capacity?

Finding space

Bevis said the key is to squeeze.

“We could fit a few more planes in some hangers,” he said.

That’s how Hook Field will fit in the Butler County Warbirds flying club, which has a pending lease.

However, cutting up the hangers to fit more tenants gets tricky with one meter per hangar for utilities.

Set up originally to handle mostly private cargo planes, Bevis said the single meter wasn’t as big of an issue. But with multiple tenants per hangar, the airport has to spread the cost out between each renter as a flat rate in their lease. This means staff has no way to tell how much energy each individual tenant uses and how to charge appropriately.

Bevis said adding more meters would help, but would cost thousands of dollars per meter to install.

Another measure would be building out the airport with more hangars. Initially Bevis said this was not possible when he took over as manager in 2008 due to another utility issue — a lack of sewer and water lines.

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