Red Lodge Mayor at Odds Over Airport With Commissioners, Board and Her Own Council

June 15, 2023 (updated June 29,2023)

A dispute has arisen over land that has been managed and maintained by the Carbon County Airport Board (Board) as the Red Lodge Airport since 1959.  The land in question is all that land zoned for airport and airport-compatible uses within the City of Red Lodge. This land consists of contiguous parcels owned by the City of Red Lodge adjacent to Highway 78 and Airport Road. The land and one mil per year ($8,053 for 2023) is the City's contribution to airport operations. Since 1959, the administration of the airport has been left to the Board, which also administers the Bridger Airport. Until the Cogswell administration, the City of Red Lodge had shown no interest in, nor expressed any concerns about, the Board's performance or its purported jurisdiction.

The Board was created by a joint resolution in 1959 between Carbon County, the Town of Bridger and the City of Red Lodge.  In November 2021,  the City of Red Lodge passed a resolution stating their recognition of the airport as “an important piece of infrastructure”, that there is “potential for significant improvement and development of the airport property for aviation and compatible non-aviation uses that would contribute to the local economy and tax base” and acknowledging “that land-lease agreements have been written and continue to be written to encourage ongoing development at the airport.”  Proceeding from that resolution, diligent efforts have been made by the Board to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to secure funds to replace the crumbling runway.  This summer the Board, using primarily private funding, will patch and seal the existing runway at a cost of approximately $400,000.  The complete rebuild that is desperately needed will cost approximately $2 million.  If the Board is successful in getting the Red Lodge Airport readmitted to the FAA program, the FAA will fund 90% of that $2 million.  There are also FAA funds that are doled out to the states every year for various purposes, including funding all or parts of an airport’s 10% portion of FAA grants.

On May 15, 2023, Red Lodge Mayor Kristen Cogswell sent a letter to the Commissioners stating she was terminating the interlocal agreement and further stating that the City was immediately assuming responsibility for all operations and maintenance of the airport.  The agreement provides for a period of three months upon notification of termination for the existing Board to prepare for the handover of assets and responsibilities.  In this case preparation includes determining the amount the City will need to pay for the disposition of assets upon assumption of airport control.  That cost to the City is estimated at this time to be between $600,000 and $1 million.  In addition, the City would then assume the costs and liabilities of running the airport.  If the City assumes control, the County has expressed its commitment to its citizens to continue its financial support of the airport, but at a rate to be negotiated.  Over the last ten audited years (7/1/2012-6/30/2022) of the Airport Board’s books, the County has contributed approximately $507,727.  The City of Red Lodge has contributed $35,191 and the Town of Bridger has contributed $6,758.  Other County resources that have been used to fund the airport in the past include PILT, Bentonite Tax, Oil & Gas Tax, and Entitlement Funds. The City of Red Lodge has yet to pay its mils to the Board for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2022.  The total amount the City owes the Board is approximately $27,000.

The County agrees that either party may terminate the agreement governing the control of the airport at any time; however, the County does not accept the Mayor’s termination as they do not believe the Mayor has the authority to unilaterally terminate the agreement without the approval of the City Council. In the County’s response, it stated that the “Mayor’s actions appear to be ‘ultra vires’ or beyond the legal power or authority of a person or body.” 

Despite the contents of her letter, Cogswell has stated she merely wants to renegotiate a flawed agreement.  She has consistently stated that the City has no plans for the land around the airport.  At the same time, she has stated publicly that if the City does decide to use the land currently dedicated to emergency helicopter use, the helicopters can just use Gabrian’s land.  Mr. Gabrian has not been contacted by anyone from the City regarding using his land as a heliport.  She also wrote in a recent letter to Carbon County News that “the City has no intention or plans of changing anything in the foreseeable future beyond possible affordable housing to the east of Airport Road near Highway 78”.  That news came as an odd and pleasantly shocking announcement to several people who have been trying to no avail to engage the mayor on the subject of workforce housing since she was sworn in. 

A letter to the Carbon County Commissioners regarding the City Council’s position on the airport was drafted and signed by all six Red Lodge city council members on Tuesday, June 13, before that evening’s scheduled City Council meeting. A timely request to put the contents of the letter on the June 13 agenda was denied by the mayor; however, she scheduled her own monologue on the airport during the Mayor’s Comments portion of the meeting.  During these comments, she stated she recognizes two separate issues.  One is whether the termination of the agreement is valid.  She believes it is. The County believes it is not.  Believing she can move forward on her own, she stated that the City will “prepare and offer a new joint agreement and will also prepare bylaws to operate the airport should mutually acceptable terms not be agreed on.”  The second issue is “the ‘expansion’ of dedicated airport land and how the airport will be developed.”  Cogswell suggested the Commissioners and “former” Airport Board were welcome to provide forums for the public to consider their proposed plans and, if they did so, “the City would be happy to participate.” The interlocal agreement provides for the existing Board to remain in control for three months or until disposition of public property.  The Carbon County Airport Board is the current and only legal governing body at the airport at this time.

After wrangling with the mayor over Roberts Rules throughout the meeting, Alderman Terri Durbin was finally able to establish a vote by the aldermen to put the outcomes of three action items from the letter from City Council to the County Commissioners on the next City Council meeting agenda.  It passed unanimously 6-0. Those items were:

·      Clarification of Resolution 3627 to reflect the City’s desire to work with the commissioners and stakeholders to reach a workable interlocal agreement;

·      A request to participate in a mediated conversation with the County to discuss the issues, including but not limited to a potentially new agreed upon boundary of the Airport; and

·      Because the City Council is aware that prior discussions without mediation have not been fruitful, they request an extension of the date for completion of the mediation.

The Commissioners and the Board have consistently expressed their desire to address any issues the Mayor or Council may have.  In fact, the Board reissued over two dozen hangar leases earlier this year using previously approved lease language after the Mayor complained that new language was used that she hadn’t approved.  The Board had moved forward with the new language after months of receiving no comment from the mayor or council after they were presented with the proposed new language. The Board assumed (incorrectly, it turns out) that the City was maintaining its nearly 65 year history of indifference toward airport operations.

It is unclear how the situation has changed for the City or how it can take on the financial obligation of managing and maintaining the airport when City Council on June 13 declared the state of the Red Lodge City budget as “quickly becoming a crisis”.  They are currently trying to decide the best way to either raise revenue or cut services.  For its part, the County is taking this opportunity to review its position in this partnership and reassess if this is the best use of County taxpayers’ dollars over the next few decades.