Naples Airport officials and the Naples City Council are kind of on the same page as they move to resolve conflicts around a new state law, the city’s plans to take back control of the airport’s board of commissioners and development on the land it owns.
Chris Rozansky, who runs the day-to-day operations of the Naples Airport, said the two meetings last week between the Naples Airport’s board of commissioners and Naples City Council were the most productive he has witnessed in the decade he has been executive director.
Airport commissioners and city councilors met Tuesday, June 9, for two rounds of state-statute-required conflict resolution – the Chapter 164 process is a must if either party wants to sue the other. The City of Naples already has filed a suit against the NAA but has it on hold for the conflict resolution meetings and mediation, which is the next required step.
Among the decisions agreed upon Tuesday were that the two entities would continue to work in parallel to resolve issues in both conflicts with the same timelines.
The two bodies agreed to work on updating the existing land lease from 1969. The two-page lease likely will end up being 25 to 30 pages, said City Attorney Matthew McConnell. They also agreed to extend the deadline for each party to hire a mediator and have mediation within 45 days. And, they agreed to have another set of joint meetings July 6.
“It was perhaps the most productive joint meeting we have had with the city during my tenor. In my view it was the most productive, so I think we feel good about that,” said Rozansky, who has been executive director of the Naples Airport Authority since 2016.
“We look forward to going down this parallel path with the city to resolving the conflict,” he said.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann after the meeting said she thought the meetings were productive but would have liked more time to prepare for the airport’s conflict resolution conversation.
“Unfortunately, we did not talk about the airport 164 until today, and that was unfortunate especially knowing all the timelines,” she said. “I would rather have been able to be more methodical and be prepared for them as they were for us.”
The council and the board of commissioners need to agree on their mediators. If they can’t agree, an independent organization, such as the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium, will select one, according to the Florida Governmental Conflict Resolution Act.
What are the conflicts and when is the board election?
The City of Naples is challenging a new state law making the airport board of commissioners elected. City officials want to cancel the 99-year land lease between the city and the Naples Airport Authority that expires in 2068, end the enabling act that created the authority and start over to return the board to appointees of the city.
On the NAA side, the authority that operates the Naples Airport, is in separate required pre-lawsuit mediation with the city. Its issues are the city’s governance of the airport and a proposed ordinance requiring City Council approval of all development at the airport and whether the airport will continue to be a federally obligated airport. NAA attorneys say the ordinance requirements violate federal law.
City officials aren’t yet sure state legislators, transportation officials and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will allow the city to negate the law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April but are planning to contact them to ask.
The state Legislature doesn’t meet again until March 2027, and election of new airport commissioners is Nov. 3.
Three seats are unopposed and will be held by sitting commissioners Michelle Arnold, Seat 2; Ralph Alberto, Seat 3; and former commissioner and former chairman Rick Ruppert is unopposed for Seat 1.
Seat 4 has two candidates and Seat 5 has five candidates.
Airport authority attorney says commissioners can’t be involved in asking to change the law, must follow it
NAA attorney Bill Owens and aviation attorney Peter Kirsch said neither they nor the airport board can agree to any changes that go against the law, which made the board an independent special district when it had been a dependent special district.
The attorneys can help set up a call with the FAA and be part of it, but they can’t say they support any changes because they are obligated to follow the law.
The law came out of a bill sponsored by Rep. Adam Botana (R-District 80) despite loud and numerous objections by the city council.
The new board will include representatives from the county as well as the city of Naples.
The city council proposed almost a status quo solution – except that it would dissolve the act that created the authority, return the Naples Airport Authority to a dependent special district reporting to the city council. It would still include two Collier County residents, but they would be selected by the elected councilors.
The Naples Airport Board of Commissioners meets next Thursday, June 18, at 8:30 a.m. the Airport Office Building Conference Room, 200 Aviation Drive N.
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J. Kyle Foster is a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples Airport’s Rozansky calls airport, council meetings ‘productive’
Reporting by J. Kyle Foster, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By J. Kyle Foster, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
