A letter printed in the Mineral Independent on Sept. 15 requested documentation from the specific wording of the 2005 Mineral County Airport ground lease contract which would support the county’s termination of the contract in July of 2008. It should be noted, in their subsequent comments, both here and online, that neither county attorney Shaun Donovan, nor commissioners Judy Stang, B.J. Mcomb or Clark Conrow were able to provide this documentation.

Their inability to provide documentation supporting termination is not surprising in light of the following Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association legal services review of the contract, provided on Oct. 26 and presented to the commissioners in a public meeting on Oct. 31, 2008:

“The second main issue that I see is that this lease contemplates that it will carry on for a time period greater than the initial three year term. It allows for the raising of rents every five years. However, the lease does not have a defined termination date (oops!). In this case I would look to a local attorney who is familiar with landlord/tenant or property law in your state. I think that Montana will have laws that deal with this situation and will describe the length of lease and when it may be terminate. (Montana does; Public Law 67-10-302.) Talbot M. Martin, Attorney, AOPA LSP.

 As this public contract was terminated by elected officials who have not been able to provide supporting wording from within the contract, it should be restored. The elected officials should attend to it without further prompting.

 At this time, however, the voters of Mineral County have bigger fish to fry. We need to focus our attention on getting to know, and electing, really good representatives.