The Danville City Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to renew Averett University’s contract as fixed-base operator of the city’s general aviation airport through 2030. This comes after the university missed lease and tax payments for months and neither the city nor the university abided by some terms of their previous contract.
There was no discussion of the lease renewal among council members, only a motion to renew by Councilman James Buckner and a second by Vice Mayor Gary Miller. Only Councilman Madison Whitte voted no.
No residents spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting for this agenda item.
Averett has been the fixed-based operator, or FBO, in Danville since 2021, though it has had a presence at the Danville Regional Airport for decades through its undergraduate aviation program.
An FBO provides services to private aircraft such as fuel refills, maintenance and repairs, and a lounge for pilots.
In November, city officials said they were planning to renew Averett’s contract, despite several late rent payments and years’ worth of unpaid sales tax and business license fees.
City Manager Ken Larking, Director of Transportation Marc Adelman and Commissioner of the Revenue James Gillie said they were confident in the university’s ability to continue to manage the FBO because it is now back in compliance with these payments.
Emails obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, however, show previous confusion among city officials about Averett’s past-due payments and its ability to staff the FBO during summer furloughs on campus, a result of mismanaged funds discovered in the spring.
Other information obtained through FOIA reveals that neither the city nor the university followed their own rules for entering into lease renewal discussions.
Some members of the city’s Airport Commission have expressed concern about Averett’s FBO management going forward, especially as the growing region increasingly relies on the Danville airport.
Still, city staff recommended renewing Averett’s FBO lease.
The lease can be renewed for an additional two periods of five years each, by mutual agreement, according to the staff report for this item in the council meeting agenda packet.
The initial lease fee for rental facilities will remain at its current rate of $1,500 per month for the first two years of the lease agreement, increasing to $2,500 per month for the last three years of the lease agreement.
Averett must also pay the city for a portion of fuel sales and a portion of utilities, both of which can vary from month to month.
In April, it became apparent that Averett had fallen behind on all of those payments. The university was back in compliance by the end of August, Gillie said.
