October 23, 2007

Airport lands anchor tenant
Confirmation of deal expected at Skyline Hospital board meeting tonight

By RODGER NICHOLS
of The Chronicle

“We have an anchor tenant,” Airport Manager Jim Lehman announced Friday at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport Board meeting.

Lehman said Skyline Hospital of White Salmon would build a two-bay ambulance facility in the new industrial park adjacent to the airport.

“It will have a first-aid clinic, a dormitory for men and women attendants, a kitchen and a common room,” Lehman said. “They’ve already selected a contractor, got budgetary figures. It’s been approved by the board at the hospital.”

He also said the facility would be built in phases, “with the idea that the fire department and a community hall will be joined to this, so eventually it will spread out to two different parcels of land. We are going to reserve the second parcel of land for the fire department.”

But Skyline Hospital Administrator Mike Madden said in a phone interview after Friday’s meeting that things weren’t that settled.

“It’s a little premature for us to say, ‘Yes, this is a done deal,’ because I don’t have the authority to say that,” Madden said. “I haven’t got final approval from my board yet. We just got the proposal on Wednesday.”

Madden said the hospital had also hoped to meet with Dallesport residents before the deal was announced.

He confirmed the proposal had been in discussion for some time, and that hospital board members were aware of it, but had not yet seen the latest cost figures.

The board has approved the concept in the past, but final approval isn’t scheduled to take place until tonight’s meeting of the hospital board

He said the hospital had suggested such a facility would need to be about 2,100 square feet including ambulance bays and living quarters for the crew, since the station is staffed 24 hours a day.

Madden said Wednesday’s proposal contained cost figures that were lower than a previous estimate, but that his board wouldn’t meet to confirm the hospital’s interest until Tuesday night.

And there may be another problem.

Dallesport Assistant Fire Chief Darren Lacock was present at the airport board meeting Friday, and said after the session Dallesport residents may have an issue with the announcement.

The ambulance service is already based in Dallesport, next to the existing fire station just a few blocks from its proposed location at the airport

“We used $35,000 out of our development money to build that building, and now
they’re dumping it,” Lacock said.

Skyline’s Madden said Skyline had made an offer to Dallesport residents six years ago: help the hospital pass an emergency medical services tax levy, and Skyline would guarantee placing an ambulance in Dallesport, if the community built a facility to house it.

The Dallesport-based ambulance has been in place about four years now, and the building is rented to Skyline for a nominal $1 a year.

Madden said the arrangement had worked well, with 25 percent of Skyline’s calls now handled by the Dallesport ambulance.

“I think the real issue is the money that was spent to build it, now they’re vacating it,” Lacock said. He also said Dallesport was working on a state economic development block grant for a new fire station, community center and indoor skate park, all to be built at the current fire station/ambulance site.

“We certainly didn’t want to upset the community council,” Madden said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to them, because the community did go out and get the economic development funds, built that building for us, and it’s served a very good purpose up to this point.”

Madden and Lacock did agree that the current ambulance building was, at best, adequate.

“I wouldn’t say it was a real prime use for the way the the building got built,” Madden said, noting that access to the crew quarters above the ambulance bays was limited to a narrow exterior flight of stair.

“We’ve had two injuries to crew members on those stairs in winter,” he said.
Lacock said the fire department would have little use for the current ambulance building if the ambulance were to relocate.

“Let’s just say it isn’t the greatest building in the world,” he said.“It’s suitable for storage, maybe.”

Why is the airport board so eager to move the ambulance service onto airport property?

“I think it’s a giant step forward for us in getting our airport qualified for scheduled air service,” Lehman said. “We have two crash rescue vehicles with foam capability that can accommodate 76-passenger airplanes. Then we’d have emergency medical services on the airport, too.”

Madden said a commercial carrier making stops in The Dalles would also generate additional businesses in the new 17-lot airport industrial park.

“We’d certainly love to be part of it.” he said, “and if we can help precipitate it by being one of the first ones to say, ‘OK, let’s do this,’ We don’t mind doing that, but we want to do it in the proper steps and getting everybody else on board.”
In other business, the airport board also approved a raise in hangar rents to $265 per month for standard hangar space.

And The Dalles City Manager Nolan Young said all parties were closing in on a final agreement for the Sundoon golf course and resort adjacent to the airport.

“We have five attorneys involved, who all have their own issues,” Young said, “and two government agencies. We’re right down to the end now.”

He said the ultimate resolution might involve a three-way joint session of the airport board, Klickitat County Board of Commissioners and The Dalles City Council.