By Tony Wheeler
Staff Writer

The Macon County Airport Authority held its monthly meeting Oct. 27 with little on the agenda. After a presentation by the authority’s insurance broker, they voted to continue the policy as it came up for renewal.

Mike Woods of Wayah Insurance led a review of the one-year policy so that authority members could determine if they needed more coverage, or if they had too much. Both the authority and Franklin Aviation have policies with the group to cover liabilities arising out of the activities of the authority and the airport, Woods said.

When asked by authority member Harold Corbin if the runway extension would increase the liability, Woods said that to his knowledge, it wouldn’t, unless larger planes than what were already covered became involved.

“With this extension, we will not be getting anything larger than we can already handle,” said Neil Hoppe, owner of Franklin Aviation. “The additional footage of the runway is really just a safety factor for the airplanes,” he said.

Both entities renewed their policies and are covered for $2 million or more in liability insurance. The authority paid $2,500 for the year’s coverage. The policy for Franklin Aviation costs a little over 10 times as much, because of the four hangars, the terminal, and hangar-keeper’s coverage for the planes stored there.

Authority lawyer Joe Collins said he was pleased with the policy, and the coverage was well worth the money.

Updating the authority on the progress of the runway extension, project engineer Eric Rysdon said the permit process is moving along. He has submitted requested information to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Water Quality. With respect to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s request for stream monitoring both above and below the airport property and downstream, Rysdon said he is working with the department and feels they will accept his plan. “They want to monitor for erosion,” he said.

“The State has asked us to get all of the permits before we bid the work so, hopefully, we’ll be able to bid it this winter,” Rysdon said. “Everything seems to be progressing well. I would like to be able to start the project during the spring construction season.”

Rysdon reported that the archaeologists mapping and recovering artifacts at the site are in the final stages of work. (The archaeologists, from TRC Environmental in Asheville, have discovered remnants of a Cherokee village at the airport.) Authority Chairman Milles Gregory said TRC has a target date of Nov. 20 to finish the project.

Discussions then centered on a day planned for the public to visit the site while the archaeologists are still here and before construction begins.

“I would like to see us have a public day out there, it would clear up a lot of things that these people have created in the minds of people who haven’t been out here,” Corbin said. “Let them see that we’re not being disrespectful, not ruining the environment and not tearing up Cowee or Burningtown, as we’ve been accused of. I would like to see us have a public day,” he said.

Gregory said the authority and the archaeologists are in favor of a public day, but the authority wants written permission from the Cherokees before proceeding. Members asked who was responsible for setting the date and Gregory named Russ Townsend, historic preservation officer for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. “The ball’s in his court,” he said.

Not so, said Townsend when contacted by phone Nov. 3. “The day for the public is not my responsibility, though I’ll be there. As a tribe, we support the event and will participate. We would like to send Cherokee students and Council members to the airport that day. It’s important for the public to learn our history and culture,” he said.

There was some dissension from the Cherokees in Oklahoma at first, he said, but they agreed to support the public tour if members of the Eastern Band were present.

Contacted the same day, also by phone, and asked how plans for the public day were going, Gregory said he hadn’t heard anything and would contact the reporter as soon as he learned anything. He then said the event shouldn’t be referred to as a “public day.” Only schoolchildren and invited guests will be allowed to attend, he said, citing the lack of adequate parking.