By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

EAST END - A proposal is afoot to form an airport authority board to take oversight of Lunken Airport from Cincinnati City Council.

The city owns and operates the airport; day-to-day operations are overseen by City Manager Valerie Lemmie, the city's department of transportation and engineering, and airport manager Dan Dickten.

But Lunken is operated using profits from the airport and money from the Federal Aviation Administration. No city money goes into airport operations.

The effort to form an airport authority comes from corporate and private airport users who say they have grown weary of how the city runs the airport, particularly as they push to extend runways and increase plane weight limits.

An airport authority, acting like a board of directors, they say, would take the politics out of the business of running the airport.

"That is the way most of these airports are managed around the country, big and small," says Mike Conaton, who represents Lunken's corporate users on the airport's city council-appointed advisory oversight board.

The retired president and vice chairman of Midland Co., an airport corporate user, also is chairman of the board of trustees at Xavier University.

A major sore point with airport users, Conaton says, is that they feel City Council doesn't listen to its nine-member airport oversight advisory board.

"This advisory board has no authority at all. City Council doesn't really understand what goes on. We get patted on the head by some of those on City Council," Conaton said. " 'Yeah, OK, we hear you.' But they don't. We have no communication."

Councilman David Crowley said City Council should be listening more to the board. As chairman of the city council committee that oversees the airport, Crowley has attended at least one of the advisory board's recent meetings and held a committee meeting at the airport.

Forming an airport authority may prove too tough to do. Conaton said an assistant city solicitor has told him it would be difficult to form because an amendment is needed to the city charter. City Solicitor J. Rita McNeil has not responded to a written request for an explanation of the legalities of such a move.

Some city leaders and neighbors maintain the formation of an airport authority is far-fetched, citing legalities and surefire opposition from neighboring residents.

Doug Adams, vice chairman of Lunken Neighborhood Coalition, and at least one Cincinnati councilman, John Cranley, are opposed.

The city, they say, cannot give up control of Lunken because that would leave the surrounding neighbors too vulnerable to the airport.

"There is great progress now between the corporate users, general aviation users and residents," Cranley said. "But certain things from my point of view and the residents' point of view are non-negotiable and one of those things is giving away the power to an authority."

A Community Development, Education and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meeting about Lunken Airport will be 7 p.m. April 8 at American Legion Hall on Sutton Avenue in Mount Washington.

E mail jedwards@enquirer.com.