Cortez City Council appointed five members to the Airport Advisory Committee Tuesday night, marking the official formation of the new board meant to provide recommendations to council on the growing Cortez Municipal Airport.
New board members mentioned additional hangar space, airport development and budgeting as their top priorities while serving. All detailed pilot experience as part of their backgrounds as well as longstanding ties to the airport and aviation industry.
Eddy Lewis, president of the youth flight program Young Eagles Association in Cortez, who also flies for search and rescue missions with the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office, will serve three years.
“I've been working with a contract with the city of Cortez for weed control for the airport since ‘97,” Lewis said during his interview before council on July 14. “I've owned an airplane since '07, and then I bought a second airplane two years ago. So I have both those airplanes at the airport.”
Lewis got his pilot’s license in 2017 and has been flying out of the Cortez irport ever since. He expressed interest in developing more hangars, building a self-serve fuel farm and tanker base, and constructing a secondary runway for windy descents.
Being a part of the Experimental Aircraft Association, he said he wants to bring an air show back to the airport, engage Cortez and surrounding communities in airplanes, and put old cars on display at the airport.
Bernard Karwick, an attorney and airport hangar tenant with experience flying across the globe, will also serve three years. He presented a diplomatic view of his positions on airport development, saying the airport operates well for his private flying purposes but could use improvements on its service offerings for its tenants.
“I've been a chief pilot for an on-demand carrier with worldwide operations, so I've been to a huge number of airports,” Karwick said in his interview before council on July 28. “The unique situation here is that this airport is owned by the city of Cortez yet it serves the region.”
He expressed interest in determining budget priorities as well as defining the airport’s role in tourism and economic development during his service on the committee.
Chris Caciagli, an entrepreneur with an information technology business and a flight instructor, will serve two years. He noted limited hangar availability and developing more businesses and properties around the airport as challenges he wants to tackle during his term.
“It would bring people and commerce over here and the airport would thrive, and hopefully, the community would thrive as well,” Caciagli said to council during his interview July 28.
Robert Wright, a third generation airport patron and former owner of Four States Tire, will also serve two years.
“I've been a pilot for a little over 17 years, learned to fly here in Cortez. My parents learned to fly here in Cortez. My grandfather helped build the old terminal building. Aviation's been in my blood for a long time,” Wright said during his interview before council July 14.
He praised the work of past and present airport directors in beautifying the property, installing the parking lot and constructing the fence, but said he believed more funding is needed.
“There's a lot of areas that need to raise some prices, and parking is one of them,” Wright said.
Brian Lyons, a pilot who owns an advanced petroleum company, will serve one year. He also cited cost as one of the biggest challenges facing airport development.
“That isn’t just with the airport, but that's everything in every area around it and that's going to be an issue for everybody down the road,” Lyons said during his interview July 28.
He cited his experience in the fuel industry and construction as informative to his service on the committee as well as his ownership of a few hangars at the airport.
The city is working to schedule the first Airport Advisory Committee meeting which will be posted to its website and open to the public once determined.
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