LOVELAND — Owners of soon-to-be displaced small, private aircraft at Northern Colorado Regional Airport have staved off eviction for at least a month so airport officials can get a second opinion on the safety of 58 hangars scheduled to be decommissioned and razed.

Following a presentation by hangar tenant Rick Turley on behalf of other aircraft owners, Northern Colorado Regional Airport commissioners voted Thursday to halt lease terminations for hangars A, B, and two C hangars while airport leaders order a more thorough structural analysis.

Hangars A and B, the oldest of the group, were to be decommissioned by May 10, and hangar C by July 10, after an engineering report said the airport's four westernmost hangars had outlived their lifespan, were irreparable and could not be retrofitted to meet current building codes. The report made the assessment after viewing select units that were assumed to be representative of all hangars.

The report cited safety concerns with the A and B hangars, but the report on C "was less devastating," Turley said. "There were no comments related to safety and liability."

The airport, owned by the cities of Loveland and Fort Collins, had planned on replacing the hangars in the near future but accelerated the timeline after a closed-door meeting March 2 with attorneys and risk management staff.

"The decline of the condition of the buildings has reached the risk level that is no longer able for the cities to maintain insurance coverage," Commission Chair Don Overcash said in a statement after the closed-door meeting. "The airport and cities are faced with a difficult decision ... the decision is made in the best interest of the safety of airport users and is not being taken lightly."

Commissioners encouraged aircraft owners to come up with a viable alternative to decommissioning.

On Thursday, Turley presented several alternatives, including creating a hangar association — similar to a homeowners' association — that would assume the management and risk of the C hangars while a long-term plan was developed to build new T-hangars for general aviation.

He acknowledged the older A and B hangars were not likely to be saved. Currently, there are about six open hangars in the C buildings to accommodate about 10 planes from A and B that have no place to go, Turley said. "We're getting awfully close to accommodating people if we can maintain C."

Turley said he toured the hangars with a structural engineer who said there was "nothing that can't be fixed" in the C hangars by replacing a few nuts and replacing some turnbuckle fasteners.

Turley said he was willing to pay for an engineer, if necessary, to do a full structural analysis of the buildings but needed more time. After a lengthy discussion, commissioners put the eviction process on hold to give airport staff time to work with Loveland and Fort Collins staff to conduct a more thorough analysis and bring back recommendations to the April 20 meeting.

Commissioner Jerry Stooksbury argued the analysis should be data driven and not driven by the calendar. "We need the right data" to refute or reinforce the original engineering report, he said.

"The key is a full engineering study ... and a formal written opinion of are they safe or not," added Commissioner Tom Fleming.

It is unlikely another structural analysis can be done in 30 days, but the delay could provide commissioners a sense of what needs to happen next and how long it might take.

After the meeting, Turley said he was "happy we got some motion and we're moving in the right direction." But he and other tenants are frustrated the commission is not explaining what the issues are. "I'm happy they took the feedback seriously and seem willing to work with us. I appreciate the extra 30 days; I wish it was six months, but we'll take what we can get."

Commissioners "didn’t want to take the action they took to evict tenants," Turley said. "They appreciate what we bring to the airport, the service we provide for the airport and the revenue we bring in. It was difficult for them to make the decision to evict, but they felt compelled to do so on some information they received in executive session, info I'm not privy to, but it was concerning enough they felt the immediate need to react."

Turley said aircraft owners felt misled by airport management, which notified them in November their hangar rent for 2023-24 would increase on Jan. 1. The notification, made after the engineering report raised its concerns, led tenants to believe the hangars "would continue to be available for the 2023-24 period."

According to Turley's presentation, the T-hangars generate $184,728 in annual rental revenue and the airport spends about $15,600 on administration and maintenance costs for the hangars. In addition, pilots drive additional economic activity and income through fuel purchases and maintenance expenditures, fuel flowage fees and tax revenues.

No matter what happens, the commission has to address safety issues, Turley said. "The city can continue to own the hangars and receive the rent or forgo the hangars to move to a hangar association ... the pilots are willing to accept the liability."

Meanwhile, airport officials are fast-tracking plans to build new general aviation hangars at the Loveland airport.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Northern Colorado Regional Airport delays eviction of private planes