ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Delta County Board of Commissioners is pursuing a legal investigation into the ongoing “administrative crisis” at the Delta County Airport.
Current airport manager Robert Ranstadler gave a report to the board on December 5, detailing missing airport documents and Federal Aviation Administration compliance issues.
On the morning of Tuesday, December 19, Ranstadler told the Airport Advisory Board that he had found old meeting minutes. The notes from those minutes filled in much of the information missing for one of the airport’s major concerns.
The airport’s Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) account—which collects funds intended for improvement projects—has been in a non-collection status since November of 2020. While previous manager Andrea Nummilien said the account’s status had “nothing to do with her” and cited pandemic and auditing issues, Ranstadler previously said he could not “account for” how the situation went on for years “without anyone in any leadership position clearly knowing what’s going on.”
Since finding the old Airport Advisory Board meeting minutes, Ranstadler says he found a record of Nummilien bringing the PFC account to the board ten times between November of 2020 and July of 2022. In the meeting notes, Ranstadler says Nummilien referred several times to issues with the airport’s accounting firm not completing an audit, thus preventing the airport from moving forward with projects for the PFC account.
However, on the evening of Tuesday, December 19, Commissioner Robert Petersen made a motion to refer to the County Board’s hired civil counsel, Scott Graham, for an investigation into the “airport activity and policy that may have violated local, state or federal law, as well as contractual obligations.” The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bob Barron, who mentioned Ranstadler’s report from December 5.
“I’ve perused it a number of times,” Barron said. “There’s a lot of things that have been presented, 38 different, specific items. I believe strongly that we need to go further investigating this… We need to clarify the situation, and that’s going to take deeper investigation.”
Commissioner Steven Viau opposed the motion.
“If there is something that we cannot come to a consensus with after our new airport manager gets everything back on track, then I may consider going that route,” he said. “If files are missing, documents are missing, things weren’t done right, I would like all the facts to be given to the Commission first before we hire an attorney to dig into just what he can’t find.”
“This is not necessarily to go after anybody,” Petersen said. “This is not to assign blame. He’s going to follow it where it goes, but his initial desire is to help in any way that he can.”
Commissioner David Moyle commented, “He is seeking to protect the county with this, not pad his pockets.”
“I agree, but I think it’s premature,” Viau said. “We need to give six months to a year to see where we are.”
Commissioner John Malnar also opposed the motion, saying, “This assistant manager was telling me that the airport’s been in trouble for several, several years… I think this goes way back and at this time, I just think that our new airport manager should see what he can do to get things right.”
The motion passed with three commissioners in support and two commissioners against it.
Numillien released a statement to WZMQ 19 News in response to the board’s decision.
“I think county workers and the public should be very afraid,” she wrote. “Moyle, Petersen, and Barron are showing they will use any county resources available to them to hurt people who speak out over their behavior. They are sending a clear message: remain silent or we will come after you.”
Nummilien continued, “And still no help for our sole veterans service officer, no solutions for safe, affordable housing, and multiple county positions remain open. Remember where they spend time/money is where their priorities lie.”
Ranstadler was not available for comment following the board’s decision.
Click here for more information on the uncovered Airport Advisory Board meeting minutes.
