Brainpower could shape more useful MB airport plan

In an editorial today, the newspaper notes that something positive could come of the legislative proposal to place control of Myrtle Beach International Airport under a quasi-independent governing body:

Last week, the newspaper's editorial board panned proposed legislation to wrest ownership of the county's airports from Horry County government and transfer it to a 10-member state-run commission. The chief concern was that too little time remains in this year's General Assembly session for legislators to fix the bill's flaws and craft a plan that Horry County could support. Change can't happen without the county's cooperation.

Now one of the legislation's sponsors, S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, plans to give folks with an interest in local airports a chance to comment, before the session ends, on his airport-commission proposal. (S.C. Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, has introduced an identical bill in the House.) A Senate Transportation subcommittee will convene this week in Columbia to hear testimony into the legislation.

The panel, Rankin said, will hold a second hearing somewhere in Horry County later this month. Even if the proposal gets nowhere this session, he added, the preliminary debate could help shape the legislation for passage next year.

Fair enough. This exercise could be productive.

Certainly, the subject needs further public airing. The current governance structure for the biggest and most important county flight facility, Myrtle Beach International Airport, is structurally flawed.

The county owns the facility, but because it's inside Myrtle Beach city limits, city government controls its development. A city-county disagreement over the design of the proposed terminal for the airport's west side resulted last year in the cancellation of the project - and the waste of millions of dollars.

For that reason, Rankin and Clemmons aren't the only ones thinking there must be a better way to run the airport. Indeed, some of the current thinking in local circulation is superior to theirs.

The principal problem with the Rankin-Clemmons plan is its proposed injection of state meddling into the airport-governance mix. Their Grand Strand Airport Commission would have a 10-member governing body with a chairman appointed by the governor and three members appointed by the legislative delegation. The remaining six members would be appointed, three apiece, by the city and the county.

The local thinking: The city and county should agree to participate in a seven-member airport commission, with the city and county appointing three members each. The chairmanship would rotate between the city and county every four years.

That sounds pretty good - not least because Horry County Council and Myrtle Beach City Council would remain the airport's principal overseers, just like now. The critical difference is that such a semiautonomous commission would run the airport as a business, in the name of the public.

The state's role under this scenario would be legal enabler and neutral arbiter. It doesn't need to become a co-owner, as Rankin and Clemmons propose.

There well may be an even better idea out there for resolving the city-county culture clash that has bedeviled airport governance for decades. Those who have thoughts on the issue should share them with the Senate Transportation subcommittee this month, in hope that members truly want to create a workable bill.

Watch this space this week for subcommittee meeting dates, times and places. As soon as we know, we'll pass that information on to readers.

Editor's note: The Senate Transportation subcommittee meets in Room 209 of the Gressette Building at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The building is adjacent to the S.C. Statehouse in Columbia. Sen. Rankin says this meeting will give local county and municipal officials an opportunity to speak their minds on his Grand Strand Airport District proposal. The Tansportation panel will hold a second meeting in Horry County later this month.

Comments?

Comments

[Bob Williams]

Still looks like a plate of uncooked fish!

Put it up for auction. Maybe some business will find a viable use for the land after the runways and buildings are bulldozed.

[Nick]

I don't like the 7 member plan where the chairman rotates... It enables a majority every four years. For 4 years, the county would have 4 members, and for the next 4, the city. I kinda like the additional layer of the state including people. Maybe just have the chairman appointed by somebody on the state level.

[Really Concerned]

How much more obvious can it be that Sen. Rankin is using the airport as a political tool against Councilwoman Liz Gilland? Obviously, he is sacrificing the county's airport for his personal advancement. Really selfish politics.

[Denney Clements]

Really: That had occurred to me too. Voters in that race will have to take that into consideration.

dc