Help save Buttonwillow Airport for model aviation use
08-07-2013, 06:14 PM
#26
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Originally Posted by mr_matt
Yes with respect I thought the problem was with Caltrans? Can the Board of Supervisors actually "reopen" the field unilaterally?
A bunch of letters from concerned tax paying citizens is the best way to let them realize they are not Politically Correct. The best way to motivate a politician. Use the Address Above, tell them How much the field means to modelers, how wholesome we are and we are concerned citizens that vote in every election!
Best in The West is still on for now. But the Guys that do so much of the support (The BARKS Club) have lost their flying field.
08-08-2013, 07:27 AM
#31
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Buttonwillow
JoeC: As the President of a model club in the San Antonio TX area we are experiencing a similar problem. Our club has been flying at an Air Force auxiliary field in Seguin TX for the last 42 years. Early last year we were informed that the Air Force would no longer renew the lease. However, after contacting the military commander who oversees all property leases, he agreed to have a meeting with us. Our club officers as well as some other club members met and formulated an approach. I prepared a Power Point presentation for the military. In this presentation we highlighted all that an AMA club can do/does. Specifically we highlighted what OUR club does to help the community. We host a number of events at the field and we determined what the financial impact to the community was. We determined that the events we hosted brought approximately 350 hotel room nights to the community. We also made the point that we were exactly what the Air Force needed at this facility. Specifically, we provide "eyes on the field" for the times the military is not on-site (this site is not normally staffed during the week, weekends or holidays). We also provided information on how the AMA and our club work with local organizations to support wounded warrior programs (we host annual events with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Projects). We mentioned that the AMA and member clubs have agreements with NASA, Civil Air Patrol and other organizations to get young people interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum. In the end, the Air Force agreed to renegotiate our lease and we are currently in the process of that renegotiation. I realize this is a long post but the intent was to offer some suggestions on how the club might approach the Kern County Board with regards to keeping the field. We have found that providing the information on the relevancy of the club with respect to WHAT the club brings to the area (financially) and WHAT the club brings to the community are important considerations and make it more difficult for the "powers that be" to deny the request to fly at the field. Simply telling them "we need and should be allowed to fly there" because we have done it for so long or because we pay taxes has not worked for us. During this 1.5 year negotiation process, we have involved the AMA HQ. staff and they have formed a committee (OK, a group of a few people) that have a wealth of experience in matters like this and are available to help. Contact Dave Matheson at AMA and advise him of he problem and see if they can help. This info was provided in the forum, rather than via an e-mail or PM so that others that might be going thru similar issues might be able to benefit from our experience. Hope this has been of value. Ed
Last edited by edwarda10pilot; 08-08-2013 at 07:30 AM.
08-08-2013, 01:23 PM
#33
I'm all for signing this, but do you think the elected officials of this county care if an individual out of state signs it? You guys need to have registered voters within your county sign this petition! You could cite the revenue generated by people who travel from out of state to attend events, but the only way these people will listen is when their constituents make noise.
08-08-2013, 02:14 PM
#35
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ried to sign but I keep getting this message: [h=2]Uh oh.[/h] [h=1]The server is misbehaving.[/h]
- You can try refreshing the page, and if you're still having problems, just try again later. We're doing our best to get things working smoothly!
08-08-2013, 02:20 PM
#36
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Damn that sucks guys, Hope you can do something, but generally its hard to reverse crap like this, hope you guys have an alternate flying area. We are having the same issue on our field and walking on egg shells right now.
08-11-2013, 06:02 AM
#42
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Excellent info..
Originally Posted by edwarda10pilot
JoeC: As the President of a model club in the San Antonio TX area we are experiencing a similar problem. Our club has been flying at an Air Force auxiliary field in Seguin TX for the last 42 years. Early last year we were informed that the Air Force would no longer renew the lease. However, after contacting the military commander who oversees all property leases, he agreed to have a meeting with us. Our club officers as well as some other club members met and formulated an approach. I prepared a Power Point presentation for the military. In this presentation we highlighted all that an AMA club can do/does. Specifically we highlighted what OUR club does to help the community. We host a number of events at the field and we determined what the financial impact to the community was. We determined that the events we hosted brought approximately 350 hotel room nights to the community. We also made the point that we were exactly what the Air Force needed at this facility. Specifically, we provide "eyes on the field" for the times the military is not on-site (this site is not normally staffed during the week, weekends or holidays). We also provided information on how the AMA and our club work with local organizations to support wounded warrior programs (we host annual events with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Projects). We mentioned that the AMA and member clubs have agreements with NASA, Civil Air Patrol and other organizations to get young people interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum. In the end, the Air Force agreed to renegotiate our lease and we are currently in the process of that renegotiation. I realize this is a long post but the intent was to offer some suggestions on how the club might approach the Kern County Board with regards to keeping the field. We have found that providing the information on the relevancy of the club with respect to WHAT the club brings to the area (financially) and WHAT the club brings to the community are important considerations and make it more difficult for the "powers that be" to deny the request to fly at the field. Simply telling them "we need and should be allowed to fly there" because we have done it for so long or because we pay taxes has not worked for us. During this 1.5 year negotiation process, we have involved the AMA HQ. staff and they have formed a committee (OK, a group of a few people) that have a wealth of experience in matters like this and are available to help. Contact Dave Matheson at AMA and advise him of he problem and see if they can help. This info was provided in the forum, rather than via an e-mail or PM so that others that might be going thru similar issues might be able to benefit from our experience. Hope this has been of value. Ed
08-13-2013, 04:56 PM
#46
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As Disco Wings Has said About a Alternate flying Area, I think we do have an alternate flying area and it's called Fresno California. More specifically the Fresno radio modelers club, Which I remember of. If you go to our website and on the front page scroll down to the bottom you'll see a link called Fresno Jets. In fact if you scroll down to the third paragraph you'll see that you're talking about bringing the Fresno Jets back to Fresno and they're talking with Mark Taylor. Matt Raymond is the current president at the club, And I think he would be very receptive of the idea in bringing the Jets back to Fresno.
http://frcm.org/
Al
http://frcm.org/
Al
