Taxiway/Ramp Incursion...what would you do?

timwinters

timwinters

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Conway, MO
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LTD
Here's the story:

Prequel: I "volunteer managed" our local airport until last August when I moved my plane to another field. Even though I'm no longer based there, I can't help but to drive the field when I'm in town running errands to make sure everything is okay and the field is safe for those who come over and play on our grass.

Sooo...

Our publicly funded public use airfield (grass) is surrounded by leased farm land that is also owned by the city. The tenant farmer had been slowly encroaching on the airport's movement areas and safety zones over the years. At our last inspection, the state insisted that we "back him off." So I sat down with the farmer and we established new boundaries. Said boundaries were a compromise between what the state wanted and what the farmer wanted.

So, the farmer harvested his beans last weekend. I drove the airport on Monday and found that numerous "flexible post delineators" adjacent to the ramp and taxiway had been mysteriously relocated. Of course, this relocation increased the size of the fields and reduced the size of the ramp/taxiway.

I know what I did today...even though I no longer have any official role at this airfield...what would you have done?
 
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A lawnjob? Maybe wait until the crops are in.
 
Call the state aeronautics commission and let them deal with the farmer.
 
Put in an immovable fence .
 
RoundUp, and lots of it, along the border.
 
Well, a fence would be out of the question. It would be both cost prohibitive (small town, small budget) and it would render the farm fields unworkable due to their size/shapes.

So, what I did...

I did as Norman suggested. I called our airport's contact at the state. The reason I wanted to talk to her was I thought that she'd calm me down since I was P.O.'ed big time.

Instead of calming me down, she was more P.O.ed than I was. "That's an actionable item, big time, do you want me to do a surprise inspection next week?"

"Uhhhh...no...let us try to handle this locally first."

So I talked with our mayor, told him what happened and the severity of the issue. He asked what I thought we should do.

"Tell him he has until the end of the week to put them all back EXACTLY where they were and nothing will be made of it."

I haven't heard back from the mayor yet, don't know if he's had the conversation and, if so, how it went.

It'll be interesting to see how it comes down.

Oh, and the farmer has been notified repeatedly both in writing and verbally that he is to give the city 48 hours' notice before doing any planting, harvesting, fertilizing, etc. so the appropriate NOTAM can be filed for men & equipment working adjacent to the runway & taxiway.

Of course, that didn't happen last week either.

I would've much rather handled it myself (that's the way I prefer to do things) but I have no authority whatsoever since resigning last August. I'm just a peon now...okay...maybe I always have been. ;)
 
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Well if he doesn't shape up plant some Monsanto corn on his property and tell Monsanto about someone growing their stuff without paying. That'll fix his wagon. Or just let the state aero people deal with it.
 
I think you were too nice by saying to give the farmer warning. He's gotten lots of warnings and clearly just wants to keep on pushing. He should be getting an enforcement action.

You're too nice, Tim. :)
 
N801BH said:
That is EXACTLY what I would do...:yes:...

I will even pitch in 100 bucks to help buy the Round Up.....;)
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Agent Orange works well and can be dispersed from the air

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
 
N801BH said:
That is EXACTLY what I would do...:yes:...

I will even pitch in 100 bucks to help buy the Round Up.....;)
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Most corn and beans planted nowadays are Roundup resistant. You would be doing him a favor by killing his weeds.
 
Since this is not a new problem I would call the state aeronautics commission.
Unlike you I would not have tried to calm her down. I would have said yes a surprise inspection next week sounds good.
 
Nothing, when the guy plants outside the correct boundaries, spray that area with 2,4-D (or whatever best will kill the target crop d'jour) back to where the proper line is.
 
Small town politics is often very obtuse. The mayor might or might not know the farmer, or some member of the town council might. An easily resolved problem, or one that should be, can have a lot of undercurrents that one is not aware of. I've been thru this with the naming of an airport after the FBO who ran it successfully for 40 years passed away. We thought it only fitting his name should be included. Little did we know that a couple of local businessmen objected secretly and we had a hell of a time getting it done. Only later did we learn how small and petty they were.
 
Henning said:
Nothing, when the guy plants outside the correct boundaries, spray that area with 2,4-D (or whatever best will kill the target crop d'jour) back to where the proper line is.
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2-4-D mixed with a little round up and diesel, applied at night, will kill just about anything.......
 
N2124v said:
2-4-D mixed with a little round up and diesel, applied at night, will kill just about anything.......
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That's just it, don't want to kill the grass, or some top cover weeds, to protect the top soil, just kill the economic crop.
 
Why get in trouble spraying any type of poison, etc. you missed the easy way. Simply call the woman up who suggested a surprise inspection and let them handle it. If you don't feel that's called for, ( the legal easy way) then suffer.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I think you were too nice by saying to give the farmer warning. He's gotten lots of warnings and clearly just wants to keep on pushing. He should be getting an enforcement action.

You're too nice, Tim. :)
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With his repeated violations and ignoring warnings he is asking for an enforcement action.

Jimmy cooper said:
Small town politics is often very obtuse. The mayor might or might not know the farmer, or some member of the town council might. An easily resolved problem, or one that should be, can have a lot of undercurrents that one is not aware of. I've been thru this with the naming of an airport after the FBO who ran it successfully for 40 years passed away. We thought it only fitting his name should be included. Little did we know that a couple of local businessmen objected secretly and we had a hell of a time getting it done. Only later did we learn how small and petty they were.
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And the problem is he is farming town owned land. Obviously, he has a relationship with the town, personally and monetarily. The said enforcement action could have negative affects all around. (I could see the state fining the town for "letting" him do this.)
 
timwinters said:
I "volunteer managed" our local airport until last August.... I drove the airport on Monday and found that numerous ...what would you have done?
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It sounds as if there is a bigger problem than the one posed by this farmer. Nobody local is looking after the airport or cares about it.

If the city doesn't care enough about its airport, then maybe an advisory board of airport locals should create itself and meet on a schedule to do what you, as a former stakeholder, are doing now -- speak up when the airport management is lacking.
 
Could just wait till his crop comes up and bushhog up to the property line. Send him an invoice for cutting it down for him.
 
tmyers said:
Could just wait till his crop comes up and bushhog up to the property line. Send him an invoice for cutting it down for him.
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Tim, I like the way you think!
 
Is he the only farmer in the area?
The solution is simple, throw the S*B out and get a different farmer that will follow the rules to grow the land.
 
The way we are losing airports,you should go for the enforcement action before the farmer starts planting on the runway. The farmer is going to continue to push the point until he is stopped and or fined.
 
Step 1: Hey, Mr, Farmer, we had an agreement - what happened here?

Step 1A - put a large concrete, well marked post on your land, then put another one on the other side of the farmers land to document the line. Or, put a concrete marker with a line etched in it and recognized by a surveyor and the farmer - with a distance from that marker - to the airport boundary so a surveyor can easily replicate the distance. Enter into an agreement to waive damages from the Farmer this time - in exchange for a in perpetuity restriction on his land recognizing the encroachment limit - with an attorneys fee and surveyors fee cost --

Trust but verify. The threat of him paying your fees will end the encroachment.

Step 2 - all the passive aggressive stupidity that has been noted in this thread - including destroying his property, even if it is encroaching. . . .
 
tmyers said:
Could just wait till his crop comes up and bushhog up to the property line. Send him an invoice for cutting it down for him.
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Actually that was my plan, but I would have used a weed eater and billed hourly!
 
comanchepilot said:
Step 2 - all the passive aggressive stupidity that has been noted in this thread - including destroying his property, even if it is encroaching. . . .
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If someone plants a tree on my land, I'm pretty sure it becomes mine, and I have the right to take it down. (Local ordinances about possible tree cutting notwithstanding.
 
Cruiser said:
Is he the only farmer in the area?
The solution is simple, throw the S*B out and get a different farmer that will follow the rules to grow the land.
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My gut feeling is this farmer is kin to all the politicians in that area and he is going to get away with it...:mad::mad2::redface:
 
The leased ground has an established value, so does the ground the farmer is not paying for. Go to your local police department and file a theft report stating the farmer is stealing, because he is.
 
comanchepilot said:
Step 1: Hey, Mr, Farmer, we had an agreement - what happened here?

Step 1A - put a large concrete, well marked post on your land, then put another one on the other side of the farmers land to document the line. Or, put a concrete marker with a line etched in it and recognized by a surveyor and the farmer - with a distance from that marker - to the airport boundary so a surveyor can easily replicate the distance. Enter into an agreement to waive damages from the Farmer this time - in exchange for a in perpetuity restriction on his land recognizing the encroachment limit - with an attorneys fee and surveyors fee cost --

Trust but verify. The threat of him paying your fees will end the encroachment.

Step 2 - all the passive aggressive stupidity that has been noted in this thread - including destroying his property, even if it is encroaching. . . .
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He is farming the airport property, he has the lease on the dirt outside the movement areas and their FAA designated safety buffers. The farmer is operating outside the boundaries of his lease which is putting the airport in violation of their FAA charter.

This issue is strictly one property. Stakes had already been sen set, and the farmer moved them surreptitiously.
 
Skylane81E said:
Actually that was my plan, but I would have used a weed eater and billed hourly!
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Duncan, that's because you are young. This old fart isn't getting off the tractor unless it is to go recycle that last cup of coffee.
 
N801BH said:
My gut feeling is this farmer is kin to all the politicians in that area and he is going to get away with it...:mad::mad2::redface:
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That's my take too, he's connected somehow and thinks nothing will come of his encroachment.
 
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