Moses Lake port considers safety crew's future

MOSES LAKE — Port of Moses Lake commissioners gave their attorney the OK to begin discussions as they consider what to do with the district's public safety department.

Port attorney Harold Moberg first asked for permission from the port commissioners to speak with local unions and contract service providers during the port board's meeting Monday as a discussion item.

Federal regulations require air crash rescue services within three minutes if an airport has an air carrier on site, Moberg explained.

"Once you lose the carrier, you lose the obligation to have the (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting, or) ARFF response," Moberg said. "So what I looked to was, how do we do this? We don't have the federal funding, we don't have monies coming in, but we've got the workforce that has value, been great for us, and we want to keep them."

Grant County International Airport has been without an air carrier since September 2006, when Big Sky ceased its flights after the Essential Air Service federally-subsidized program was terminated due to low passenger numbers earlier in the year.

With the commissioners' permission, Moberg hired a consultant to look at the economics and see what can be done to save the eight employees in the district's public safety department.

While no final recommendation has been made, Moberg said he's at the point where he must move forward in fairness to employees and the port, and share information as he gets it.

In discussions with Teamsters Local 760, Moberg promised to talk about the situation before moving forward. He sought authority Monday to formally talk with the union and contact contract organizations to consider and compare the cost of alternate services.

"To make the public fairness issues, I want to send out bids to other private companies that provide the service," he said. "What I hope we end up with is a procedure where if we can't support all of public safety, we can support part. If we can't support part, someone else will pick them up and use them."

Moberg's instincts tell him the port cannot run the department 24 hours a day without funding. The port's next obligation becomes meeting the needs of the companies using the airport, he added.

Moberg plans to meet with the unions and contract services to gather input. He wants the data to support what he calls "a tough decision" by the end of March.

"The port sees (the public safety department employees) as valuable, trained, great employees and has to deal with the actual financial burden of losing a carrier," he said.