"There should be a modest fee to lease the land," Airport Authority Chairman Rick Wachtel said.

Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority chairman Richard "Rick" Wachtel said he wasn't surprised by the senator's announcement, either. "I think he's been a tremendous asset," said Wachtel, who described Rockefeller as a "great benefactor" to the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport. The John D. Rockefeller IV Science & Technology Center, the airport's 225-acre industrial park that bear's the senator's name, would not exist had it not been for him, Wachtel said. "I can only say great things about Sen. Rockefeller," Wachtel said. On several occasions, Rockefeller has helped the airport resolve issues with the Federal Aviation Administration, Wachtel said. Neither company remains in business there, but Wachtel said the economic downturn and internal corporate issues are to blame for their departure. "It's far, far from his fault that they're no longer here," Wachtel said. Wachtel said Rockefeller has worked "extremely hard" on job creation issues and believes the senator is very concerned about the state's welfare. Wachtel said Rockefeller, who was always responsive to his phone calls, wielded considerable influence and could get an audience much faster than most people. "The name Rockefeller is known worldwide and opens doors," Wachtel said.

MARTINSBURG - Eastern Regional Airport Authority President Rick Wachtel had to break a tie vote at the authority's meeting Tuesday morning on whether to accept or table the latest proposal for a joint use agreement from the National Guard Bureau that would pay the authority $1 a year for the next five years for the use of the airport by the 167th Airlift Wing. Wachtel voted to table any action on the agreement until the authority's next regularly scheduled meeting on March 6, when a definite decision would be made. Wachtel said the NGB payment accounted for about 20 percent of the Airport Authority's budget and without the payment, the authority would have significant fiscal issues. "It puts a serious financial crimp in our ability to operate," he said.

"He was the causal factor for the industrial park being developed," Rick Wachtel, longtime chairman of the Airport Authority, said in a telephone interview Friday. Wachtel said Rockefeller's and the Airport Authority's relationship has been excellent for two decades and that Rockefeller was instrumental in bringing Taiwanese investments to the business park, namely Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. and Tiger Aircraft LLC. "They were viable enterprises," Wachtel said. "Private planes and corporate jets are luxuries, and some of the very first purchases to go (in a recession)," Wachtel said. Rockefeller is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which oversees the Federal Aviation Administration, Wachtel explained. "He recognizes the value of funding for small- and medium-size airports like Eastern Regional," Wachtel said. "He got Airport Improvement Program money constantly for maintenance and improvements for airports across the country." There have been many projects at the Eastern Regional Airport that would not have been done without AIP funding, Wachtel said. "The new terminal was built with AIP funds, partially," he said. Wachtel said Rockefeller also has been very helpful when situations with the FAA came up. "He stepped in to help resolve situations with the FAA - not that that happened often - but he would immediately respond," Wachtel said.

On Airport Authority Chairman Rick Wachtel's recommendation, the amount of the request for the upcoming fiscal year will be divided among the three jurisdictions based on the number of members they pay for. The Airport Authority has paid off a loan to purchase the Howard Enterprises property, Wachtel announced at Tuesday's meeting. The final $30,000 payment for interest on the loan was made in December. This frees up about $43,000 annually in revenue from leasing the hangars on the Howard property. Some Airport Authority members believed the revenue from the hangar leases would take the place of the lost NGB funds and the authority would not have to ask the counties and city to make up for the lost NGB joint-use agreement payments. However, Wachtel said he preferred that the hangar revenues be used for future "through-the-fence" acquisitions. "Through-the-fence" is a term referring to businesses located off airport property, but adjacent to airport property with direct access to airport facilities, like taxiways and runways. "Through-the-fence properties have access, but no security," Wachtel said earlier. "There will be more through-the-fence acquisitions (per the FAA)," Wachtel said Tuesday.