Van Nuys Airport Plan Denounced

Calling it “an abuse of money that is staggering,” the chairman of a citizens advisory council lashed out Tuesday at city officials over plans to rebuild two massive hangars at Van Nuys Airport for more than $11.5 million, the costliest project in the airport’s history.

Armed with color slides and photocopied documents, George Jerome outlined plans approved in January by Los Angeles airport commissioners to repair the World War II-era buildings, damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The repair project will have the effect of forcing out an airport tenant, Syncro, a small entertainment-industry business the city has been trying to evict for the past year in an action the tenants have protested as arbitrary and unexplained.

The project was quietly approved at a commission meeting, although the matter was not included on hearing agendas mailed to the public.

Instead, as state law allows, notice of the planned action was posted on a wall outside the hearing room. But most Van Nuys Airport observers, including the airport’s manager, said they were unaware of the pending action.

Jerome said at a meeting Tuesday night of the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council that he is angered by the amount to be spent and the manner in which the department has handled the project. He said he did not learn about the project until after the commission’s Jan. 13 hearing. The Times reported the action on Jan. 31.

The advisory council voted unanimously to ask airport department executives to answer questions concerning the hangar project at the next council session in April.

Jerome’s presentation Tuesday was the first time the issue was brought before the advisory council, composed of representatives of nearby homeowners, businesses and aviation interests who are appointed by the City Council to recommend actions on issues affecting the airport.

In his presentation, Jerome questioned the cost of the project, which rose from an estimated $5.5 million in 1995 to $8.6 million last year, according to department documents.

The estimated cost was increased another 33%--to $11.5 million--when the contract was approved in January.

That price does not include another $1 million or more to be spent by the city for testing and inspection fees, according to documents.

Airport officials said they expect to recover the cost of the repairs from the airport’s insurance carrier, Cigna, and from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But department officials said agreements with those agencies have not been made final.

In an interview Tuesday before the meeting, Jerome said he was frustrated by the department’s refusal to document its actions or to justify the costs.

“I am finding this whole thing is absolutely absurd,” Jerome fumed. “This is taxpayers’ money. I don’t want to believe we have people in government treating $11 million like it’s so much pocket change.”

A request for documents by The Times produced reports that showed only the $8.6-million estimate. Robert H. Millard, chief airports engineer, said in an interview Tuesday that he does not know how the department arrived at the $11.5-million figure.

“I haven’t looked at the costs,” he said, explaining that the figure is a maximum allotment for design and engineering and that the actual project may cost less. “I expect it to come in much less than that,” Millard added.

Details of the contract are being completed and are expected to be mailed within a few days to Matt Construction of Santa Fe Springs, Millard said.