March April 2003 Cal Pilots Newsletter
A Chapter of California Pilots Association Lampson Field gets $150,000 for sewage improvements. On February 18th, the Lake County Airman’s Association (LCAA) chapter of the California Pilots Association successfully made the case to the Lake County Board of Supervisors to approve the engineering studies required to upgrade the aging water and sewer systems at Lampson Field. The final vote was no less than unanimous support for the future of aviation in the County. A month before the meeting, the vote was 3 to 2 against funding the project. At the meeting, Bob King, LCAA spokesman, presented data showing that Lampson Field’s annual contribution to the community had doubled over the past decade, to more than $20 million. LCAA’s Todd Falconer then presented a technical overview of the airport’s current waste water system and projected requirements. A letter from CPA President, Jay White, was read into the minutes of the meeting. Damon Trimble, LCAA President, summarized the campaign stating, “Over the past two weeks we literally flooded each Supervisor with e-mails, faxes, and letters from pilots and local businesses and organizations.” During the week before the vote, LCAA hosted tours of the airport for two of the five Supervisors. After his airport visit, Supervisor Ed Robey said that he could now appreciate the full impact of the airport’s contribution to the community, including jobs, tourism, sport and recreation flying, and access to the Nation’s travel system. The two Supervisors who initially sponsored the funding bill toured the facility last year. LCAA also worked with reporters from the county’s local newspaper, the Record-Bee, on a two-page article about the airport that ran on the Friday before the Supervisor’s decision. As more than three-dozen aviation supporters walked into the Board chambers for the meeting, Supervisor Gary Lewis said it best: “Lake County’s Air Force has landed!”
