Airport Misses Lockheed Payment Deadline

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday put off for at least two days a decision on whether to pay Lockheed Martin for a new terminal site, missing a court-imposed deadline.

The Airport Authority gave no reason for its decision to delay a $30-million partial payment to compensate Lockheed Martin for the Plant B-6 site, which the airport seized in 1997 through eminent domain.

Sources close to the Airport Authority said the panel needed more time to seek additional assurances from Burbank that the city would not reject a new terminal.

Last Wednesday, Burbank City Manager Robert R. “Bud” Ovrom indicated that a new 14-gate terminal was “basically consistent with long-standing city policy.” But he also noted approval by the city was contingent upon a noise curfew linked to future expansion, public hearings and ultimately City Council approval.

Airport Authority President Joyce Streator responded by saying the airport wanted concrete guarantees from elected officials. But one source said that threatened to undermine negotiations and jeopardize a deal.

“She wanted the City Council to put themselves in a position that was legally and politically impossible,” the source said.

The Airport Authority had sought the commitment by Monday, saying it was necessary to meet the payment deadline set by a judge after a jury determined the property value at $86 million.

But as the deadline came and went, Airport Authority spokesman Victor Gill said the Airport Authority’s inaction was comparable to missing a payment on a bill.

“There’s usually a grace period from the due date,” said Gill, who added that the Authority recognized the urgency of the issue by agreeing to meet Wednesday rather than during its regularly scheduled meeting next Monday.’

Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Gail Rymer said lawyers would file papers with Burbank Superior Court Judge Carl J. West today, giving the Airport Authority 10 days--until Aug. 6--to pay up or lose the property.

“The Airport Authority’s failure to obey the court’s order is regrettable,” said Rymer. “The Airport Authority can’t have the property and the money. They are entitled to one or the other, but not both.”

If they failed to pay by Aug. 6, the judge could move to dismiss the case, return the Plant B-6 site to Lockheed and force the Airport Authority to pay damages and interest, Rymer said.

Also on Monday, the authority unanimously voted to elect Carl Meseck of Glendale as the new Airport Authority president, replacing Streator.

Meseck, former executive director of the Glendale YMCA, is the dean of the Airport Authority, having served on the board since its inception in 1977.

The authority also named authority members Meseck, Chris Holden of Pasadena and Jim Starbird of Glendale to a committee negotiating the terminal expansion with Burbank. Streator was removed from the committee.

“This has gone on long enough and there’s no reason for us not to come up with a solution,” Meseck said. “There’s going to have to be a level of trust at some point.”

Phil Berlin, a Burbank representative on the Airport Authority, said those kind of sentiments were exactly what was needed to reach a consensus.

“I think his presence will make it a much less contentious environment as opposed to reiterating distrust between the parties,” Berlin said.