The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors approved a funding structure for the Guthrie County Regional Airport Authority’s runway reconstruction project last March, which is receiving a 90% grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. However, some shake ups arose at their recent meeting.

Airport Board Secretary Allen Darrow, who represented the County at-large, submitted a letter of resignation, due to an “acrimonious relationship” between the Airport Authority and some of the Supervisors. He said he will continue to support the airport informally as a volunteer. Authority Treasurer Lance Levis spoke to the Supervisors on the need to appoint a female member for more of a gender balance. When Supervisor Everett Grasty asked Levis for any recommendations he responded, “Well, I remember hearing (at) one of the hearings we had, that one of the criticisms we got was that somebody wasn’t comfortable appointing the people that we suggested. We would be glad to do that, to come up with some names but it’s just whatever the Board would rather have us do, I guess.”

Currently two other members are on the Authority Board, Matt Perry representing Guthrie Center and Marshall Burgess representing Panora. Levis also mentioned that the agreements the entities of Guthrie Center, Panora, and the County approved last March creating the Authority and funding the 10% needed for the runway project, have not yet been signed and filed for the County or State. The creation agreement gives the legal basis of the Authority, without which the Board is just “hanging out there,” according to Levis.

County Attorney Brenna Bird advised on what the Supervisors do next, “I think one action that could be taken is the Board could ask the Auditor if the Auditor has received the signed agreement and what the status is, because typically that would be who would receive that on behalf of the Board. Unless we think some other office would have received it. I can’t think of any other one who would have.”

Guthrie Center City Administrator Laura Wolfe told the Supervisors over speakerphone that Panora City Administrator Lisa Grossman had delivered the agreement signed by her city council, which Wolfe said her council then signed and then delivered to the Auditor’s Office. Deputy Auditor Dani Fink was unable to recall the paperwork’s location at the meeting. The Board then directed to advertise for the vacant Airport Authority seat and to communicate with Auditor Marci McClellan, who’s been absent for the last five Board meetings, on the whereabouts of the agreements.