For the second straight meeting, tension between Hillsborough County Aviation Authority head Louis Miller and board member Steve Burton broke out into the open , as Burton questioned Miller about his unilateral decision to demolish an office building owned by Tampa International Airport valued more than $4 million without any input from the Authority board.
Despite a call by Burton to delay the demolition until more facts could come out as to why Miller chose to destroy the building, the Authority voted 3-1 to continue to go ahead with the razing.
News of the planned demolition was broken earlier this week by Mike Deeson and WTSP Channel 10 on Monday. On Thursday, another story, this one written by the St. Petersburg Times Michael Van Sickler, reported that a real estate official had told a staff member at TIA, that the vacant building off of nearby Jim Walter Blvd. had a potential tenant who wanted to inspect it, before being told it was too late.
The spirited discussion came after the board had concluded hearing about a study about why Tampa International Airport has so few direct nonstop international flights. At that point, the meeting appeared to be close to being adjourned.
But that's when Burton, for the second straight meeting, ended up having an intense confrontation with Miller, this time about the report of the approximately 40,000 square foot building, formerly leased by Continental Airlines as a reservations center, being scheduled for destruction.
Burton asked that the demolition be delayed. But Miller said that it was too late, as the contractor had already began preparations to knock the building down.
But Burton repeatedly asked what was the harm in delaying that, until an analysis of the proposal be prepared and brought back to the board?
Miller then began citing certain details to justify his opinion, such as a 22% vacancy rate in the Westshore business area. He then left his seat to go to an overhead map of the airport property, saying the site in question would be better used for commercial development.
"This is precisely the problem," Burton interjected. "You're rattling off things off the top of your head and these things were not rattled before the decision to destroy an asset worth $4.5 million."
After whispering with a a member of his legal staff, Miller said he would delay the demolition.
That's when Mayor Pam Iorio, a board member who had been sitting by silently as the exchange continued, intervened. She told Miller that there had been no motion to stop the demolition. She then asked Miller to discuss the facts of the case that led him to make the decision that he made.
The debate then centered on whether Miller as Executive Director had the legal right to make such a decision unilaterally Aviation legal staff on hand said that the board had in 2007 expanded Miller's powers and thus, "no laws had been broken, nor policies had been violated."
Another discussion then took place, initiated by board member Joe Diaco, on whether it was appropriate to be "micromanaging" Miller. Other board members, including Burton, said that was not what anybody wanted.
Mayor Iorio then interjected again. She said that she believed that since contracts had been signed regarding a demolition, that should go forward. But she said that the policy should be changed so in the future such decisions come before the entire board.
Afterwards, Cl spoke with the Mayor about her thoughts about what just took place. "I agree with the idea that the board should review demolitions in the future," she said. " And I think that is a proper role for a board. So we need to change that policy……but I do think once a demolition contract has been signed, to stop them probably causes more trouble. We need a very full report from Mr. Miller on this. I trust his judgement….I think it tends to be very sound."
Channel 10 reporter Mike Deeson, with cameraman in tow, immediately pounced on the Mayor as the meeting ended. But as she said she told him, "I don't have all the facts…I'm not privvy to all the notes that might have been exchanged between staff members, but I do trust (Miller's) judgement."
When asked what she thought of Steve Burton's request to delay the demolition, as well as his questioning whether it was legal and appropriate, she said, "He is a new board member. I'm 25 years in the business. I'm used to learning things in the newspaper, and I'm used to it. Mr. Burton is brand new to this board, he's only been on for a few months. The press came to him about this, yes, so you can understand from his perspective,why are we doing this? I think that his concerns are legitimate ones, and he should have been allowed to air them out today."
Lost in all of the hubbub about the property in question was that a presentation of a study the airport commissioned last year from an airport consultant about "leakage" of international flights from TIA., was given its first public discussion.
Joel Antolini from Seabury, went over the report about why Tampa International has so few direct international flights (currently there are 3 cities worldwide that you can fly nonstop from overseas at TIA).
Overall, Antolini said, the picture is mixed for any potential future direct international flights coming out of Tampa. "The good news is, you have leakage. The bad news is, not enough to make a difference." By "leakage" he meant the potential business for the airport that has "leaked" to other airports, such as Orlando, Miami, or Atlanta, means that there is the potential for the airport to have serious conversations with carriers about possibly creating more direct flights. But he said that the number of potentially new customers might not be great enough to make it worth the airlines attention.
A new marketing committee that will be chaired by Burton is scheduled to begin discussing plans on working with the business community on trying to attract more direct flights. Their first meeting is next week. It will not be open to the public, though Burton says he is trying to change that policy.
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This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2010.