Dukes County commissioners met Wednesday to interview the first three of six candidates seeking three seats on the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission, along with a 10th applicant to represent the Island on the Steamship Authority board of governors.
The airport commission oversees both the airport and its business park. The SSA board oversees the boat line.
Mirroring a process begun last week when the commission began to interview SSA governor applicants, each candidate Wednesday was given time for a brief introduction before answering three questions that had been provided in advance.
For the airport commissioners, the questions were:
• What do you envision for the future of the airport and secondarily the business park?
• What role do you see for the airport in responding to climate change and environmental challenges?
• How will you contribute to ensure the ongoing financial security of the airport?
Interviews began with incumbent airport commissioner Richard (Peter) Wharton of Oak Bluffs, who is seeking reappointment to a second three-year term.
Mr. Wharton, director of plant operations and environmental services at Windemere, underscored recent accomplishments at the airport, including hiring a new general manager and updating the financial accounting system.
“It’s been a very active three-year period for us,” he said, also praising management for improving rent collections from business park tenants.
“We have the people in place, from the comptroller to help manage the dollars, from a property manager to help make sure that we’re collecting where we need to and not missing revenue, to . . . an airport director who really is interested in drilling down to every dollar that comes in or goes out.”
He said his vision for the airport includes matching building capacity with demand, such as adding bathrooms beyond security screening.
Aviation industry executive Richard Conrad, a seasonal resident of Chilmark, said he would like to see a large hangar built for the owners of private jets.
“It’s kind of a natural,” he said. “It doesn’t grow the airport, but it gives the airport another opportunity to make money.”
When it comes to the environment, Mr. Conrad said, although airports contribute to air and noise pollution, aircraft have become more efficient and pilots can be educated.
“Everybody has to understand you don’t just fly around and make noise, you fly around responsibly,” he said.
Vineyard Haven businessman Geoffrey Wheeler cited his global experience in aviation as well as his familiarity with flying.
“I’ve spent my entire professional career in aviation or airports,” he said. “I got my pilot’s license at Katama, a long time ago, and all my ratings here at the big airport.”
His vision for the future includes larger planes, but not much expansion of the airport.
“I don’t think we’re going to be getting much bigger,” he said.
“I think any growth we’re going to see is not going to be in frequency, it’ll be in changing gauge of the equipment . . . slightly larger planes,” he also said.
The county commission meets Feb. 19 to interview the three remaining candidates for the airport commission seats. They are retired executive John Ensor of Edgartown, landscaper Fred Fournier of Edgartown and retired businessman Robert Zeltzer of Chilmark.
Commissioners also interviewed Jacqueline Noel of Oak Bluffs, who is one of 10 applicants seeking the SSA governor seat.
The nine other applicants were interviewed last week.
Ms. Noel is a public transportation veteran who first came to the Island as a consultant for the Vineyard Transit Authority more than 15 years ago. “We loved the Island so much we just stayed,” she said.
She told the commission her career has given her valuable perspective on the SSA.
“Not only am I a consumer of the services themselves, but I also was the general manager of two different transit systems and I have seen transit systems through transitions into alternative fuels before. This is my bailiwick,” she said.
Among other questions, commissioners asked her how the SSA should cope with its debt for the more than $70 million Woods Hole terminal reconstruction project.
She said for a large concern like the boat line, it’s mostly business as usual. “It is not unusual for a public authority, a quasi-government agency, to incur debt, especially if they’re at the forefront of something,” she said. “If we waited until we had profits to improve our fleet, improve our terminals, improve our service — we should ultimately improve our service — we would never get anywhere.”
The commission plans to vote on both the SSA and airport commission appointments on March 4.
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