Monday, the New Castle Board of Works approved a contact with Sky Castle Aviation. Mayor Greg York said the idea of hiring an airport manager has been discussed for as long as eight years, adding that he’s pleased an agreement is now in place.
“We’ve been working on it for years and we know we need a manager. It’s important we have a manager. It’s important for the city and county both, and it’s important for the airport,” York said.
Sky Castle Aviation was founded in 1955 by Clifford “Bill” Marlatt. His sons, John and Jeff Marlatt, have been performing many of the duties of an airport manager in recent years, but have not officially been recognized as such by local government. The Marlatt family owns most of the property on which the airport is located as well as the airplane hangars, fueling equipment and other hardware.
New Castle Clerk-Treasurer Christy York, who serves on the New Castle-Henry County Board of Aviation Commissioners, pointed out that the airport board voted last year to authorize the city to negotiate an airport management agreement.
“We have a tax rate for the airport and the county does not,” she said in explaining why it fell on the city to address the matter. “The city agreed to take care of a contract without the county’s financial support of a manager’s agreement.”
The manager’s agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015 and runs through Dec. 31, 2015. It calls for Sky Castle Aviation to be paid $1,000 per month or a yearly fee of $12,000 for providing management services. It also stipulates Sky Castle Aviation is being employed as an independent contractor and none of its staff are considered employees of the city of New Castle.
Neither John nor Jeff Marlatt was available for comment.
The local airport is located at 2912 E. County Road 400 S., New Castle.
