Trending
The Chautauqua County Legislature will vote next week on a proposal to accelerate rent reduction credits to an aircraft manufacturing company working to renovate Hangar A at the Chautauqua County Airport.
Members of the Public Facilities Committee on Monday approved a proposal to allow the Luscombe Aircraft Corporation to increase its rent reduction credit from $500 to $1,000 to allow the company to make needed capital improvements to the hangar. The maximum amount of rent credits remains unchanged at $48,000. The Audit and Control Committee approved the same request on Thursday.dn
The company's current contract pays the county $1,350 a month in rent. If the company claims the entire rent credit it is requesting, rent would decrease to $850 a month.
It's unknown how much rent received by the county will change this year because it's not known if Luscombe will actually need to use the credits or not. The committee approved the change unanimously.
"This is in recognition that COVID has taken a hit on a lot of businesses," said Brad Bentley, county public facilities director. "They employ people here. We want to keep this business around. I think it's important for the economic future of the company there. The IDA is supporting this. I think we should do our part by allowing the accelerated credit to keep them in business. I think the business is viable, it's just we need to help them get through this tough period everybody's experiencing."
The rent credits were originally included in the contract with Luscombe because the improvements will benefit both the company and the county. Both the company and the county knew the hangar space needed water, sewer, heat and electricity improvements, but county officials didn't know that where some of the utility lines ended. It turned out extending the natural gas lines to bring heat to the hangar is a $12,000 to $14,000 project -- much more expensive than anyone estimated.
"We didn't have a well-developed understanding of the site and utility infrastructure," said Ron Almeter, county airports and parks manager. "Subsequent to that we determined that the existing infrastructure, particularly in regard to sewer and natural gas for heat fall short of Hangar A."
"It actually stops in the street about 500 feet from the building. The cost of extending the utilities, the site infrastructure, the part of it that is on airport property, is considerably more than what was forecast at the time we entered into the lease with Luscombe. That in part is the rationale for allowing them to accelerate the expenditure of Luscombe's funds for the capital improvement to Hangar A. It's not just the hangar itself they're improving, it's the site utility infrastructure."
Almeter said legislator Ken Lawton, R-Busti, is helping Luscombe with a grant through National Fuel that may help pay for the gas line extension. The county wasn't eligible for the grant, but Luscombe is eligible as a start-up business that is creating jobs. The company is also pursuing grants to help with other utility upgrades.
"There are also grants available through National Fuel for some of the internal work," Almeter said. "Again, it's up to Luscombe to put those grant proposals together and pursue those. We're working with them and encouraging them to do that and certainly (Lawton) has been very helpful in helping Luscombe understanding how to nail the grant requests."
The Luscombe Aircraft Corp. of Chino, Calif., is leasing Hangar A at the airport to build and refurbish airplanes. The company recently received a $322,000 low-interest loan from the county Industrial Development Agency that was financed with CARES Act money.
In addition to the county's help with rent credits, the company is working to sell the first four Luscombe LSA's it has made to keep the project moving.
"As everyone knows we need sales to keep our crew employed," Luscombe officials said in a blog post in mid-November. "We're looking at selling the first four Luscombe LSA's at a steep discount to keep everything moving along during this Covid shut down. We look forward to hearing from you and to orders for the first four Luscombes off the assembly line."
Luscombe has acquired the rights to produce planes that resemble the former Legacy aircraft brand. According to an April article by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, there are about 1,600 registered Luscombe aircraft on the Federal Aviation Administration's registry. Luscombe made two-seat, all-metal, tailwheel airplanes starting in the 1930s before stopping production in 1950. The company wants to build two types of planes locally -- a small general aviation aircraft and a sporty version of the same aircraft. Customers for the planes would include entry level pilots and flight schools, with a goal of making around 100 aircraft a year within five years after production starts. Additionally, owners of the remaining 1,600 older Luscombe planes could have new parts made in Jamestown from the original Luscombe jigs.
"As with almost every business, COVID-19 has slowed us down," company officials said in a blog post Nov. 13 on their website, luscombeair.com. "To be sure, not being able to attend any events, as we had planned, prevented us from marketing the new company face to face with potential buyers. We really appreciate your business and support over the last year. It's been a great move and we're ready to get this off the ground. We are now starting the Luscombe LSA Model 8 production. We've had several discussions on pricing and are keeping the cost as low as possible. Steve Testrake engineered and designed a new retro dash, we've digitized several thousand drawings and started making parts for the new LSA."