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Pasco Letters to the Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

Hangar Hang-Ups

This letter is in reference to your article May 20, "Zephyrhills Airport Hits Fire Safety Cost Snag."

You addressed the problem of flashing, which actually is curbing, being needed before the fire marshal, Kerry Barnett, would approve the hangars for occupancy. Actually, there is curbing being installed at the bottom of the wall in the hangars.

The plans showed the curbing to be L-shaped, 6½-inch heavy metal, which would be installed on one side of the hangar wall and epoxied to the hangar floor.

Every hangar will have curbing that would prevent any fluid from going from one hangar to another. The fire marshal approved the hangar plans and signed his approval after inspecting the plans in January.

On March 26, the fire marshal paid a "courtesy visit" to the construction sight. Even though he had read the plans and signed off on them, he wrote this up as a violation when he saw the curbing would not be on both sides of each wall.

It is totally unnecessary for curbing to be on both sides of each wall in the 67 hangars. Many airports with hangar-building projects are approved with curbing as the original blueprint designates.

According to our fire marshal, he will not approve the hangars for occupancy until the hangars have curbing on each side the walls.

This has been estimated to add about $90,000 to the original cost, which includes adding cement curbing as well as the time needed to finish the hangars, which will bring in income of $17,000 a month.

A suggestion was made at the council meeting to consult the state fire marshal about the curbing problem.

That was shot down by the local fire marshal, as he informed us the state did not deal with local problems and if they did it could take up to 90 days to make a determination.

The idea was dropped, as it was understood this process would definitely set the project back indefinitely.

Speaking of cost, if I didn't know better after reading your article I would be up in arms that the city of Zephyrhills would spend $2.7 million on this airport project.

Apparently someone forgot to say that the monies for the improvements were made possible from various grants our airport manager has won.

As a member of the airport authority, a pilot and Zephyrhills resident, I appreciate seeing articles about our airport but only when the article contains accurate information to the readership involved.

JANE OPAROWSKI

Zephyrhills

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