Ruling on petition for new Corry Airport Authority delayed by question on adequate notice

CORRY — There was no ruling Friday on a petition before the Erie County Court of Common Pleas to transfer Corry-Lawrence Airport to a new airport authority.

Judge John J. Mead delayed his decision pending additional written comments on whether the petitioner provided adequate notice of Friday's hearing at the Erie County Courthouse.

The need for a new airport authority

At issue is the City of Corry's efforts to transfer the airport and its assets to an airport authority that the city created in 2022.

The airport had been operated by the Airport Authority of the City of Corry since 1955. That authority was to be renewed in 2005 but was not renewed. And the omission wasn't discovered until 2020.

The airport has continued operations and continues to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Bureau of Aviation. But both funding and airport operations will end at some point without a legally recognized authority to oversee them.

The City of Corry filed the petition asking the court to dissolve the old authority and transfer airport property at 800 Spring St. and its assets to the new authority.

Court approval is required before the FAA approves the transfer, Neal Devlin, the attorney representing the city, said during Friday's hearing. The agency has reviewed the petition and is well aware of intentions to transfer assets to the new authority, Devlin said.

The question of public notice

Former Corry City Councilman Steve Bresler filed preliminary objections to the city petition and told the judge Friday that Friday's hearing was not properly advertised.

The petition stated that the hearing would be advertised in the Erie Times-News and the Corry Journal, and it was not, Bresler said.

Bresler told Mead that he works and has been out of town on family matters but had been watching the Corry Journal for a legal notice of a hearing on the petition. There was no notice in the paper, and Bresler said that he learned of the hearing five days prior.

"Five days to file any kind of response or defense is not enough time," Bresler said.

The hearing was advertised in a notice to airport creditors and vendors in the Erie County Legal Journal on Dec. 1 and 8, Devlin said.

The city planned to additionally advertise the notice in the Corry Journal as the local newspaper. The notice was mailed to the paper but for some reason was not received, Devlin said.

Instead, airport creditors and vendors were directly informed of Friday's hearing in letters delivered by the Erie County sheriff's office, Devlin said.

"The goal was to have anybody with a relationship with the airport informed that they have a right to be here," Devlin said.

None of the vendors or creditors filed an objection to the petition, Devlin said.

Without a legal notice in the newspaper, Bresler said, the public did not know about the hearing and had no opportunity to attend.

"I think it's important for the people of the city to understand what is going on, and I don't think they do," Bresler said.

The time factor

Time is an issue in the case, Devlin told the court.

A Bureau of Aviation grant for approximately $400,000 for Corry's airport could be lost if there is no airport authority in place by year's end, Devlin said.

"At the end of the year certain grant funds that would be available would be lost, and they are needed to do work that the Bureau of Aviation" requires for the airport to continue to operate, Devlin said.

"As of Dec. 31 we turn into a pumpkin... and can't get that money back," Devlin said.

The grant would fund required improvements to the airport's apron, or ramp area.

Bresler said that there have been assertions that funding would be lost since the expiration of the original airport authority was discovered in 2020.

"Now all of a sudden things are in a hurry three years later," Bresler said.

The issue brought before the court Friday was whether there was adequate notice of the hearing, Mead said. The judge invited Devlin and Bresler to submit additional information on the matter in writing by next week for him to consider.

"I know that (the petitioner wants) a decision by the end of the year," Mead said.

At Erie's airport: Reserve funds will cover anticipated operating deficits

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: No action taken on court petition for new Corry Airport Authority