BEATRICE- How the Beatrice Municipal Airport is governed will be changing. The Beatrice City Council has dissolved the airport authority, making the board now an advisory body. The vote Monday night included a second change, which makes the manager of the airport a city department head.


City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer says the authority’s existence ceased this summer when the authority carried no debt. The body was created in 1963….and under law, exist for a 20-year period or until there is no debt.


"It will oversee the operations of the airport just like your library advisory board today...just like the board of public works, those type of things."


Appointments to the board will be made by the Mayor and affirmed by the city council. The people who are running for airport authority positions will remain on the November election ballot. City officials say the intent is to appoint persons who are running for what becomes an advisory body. Tempelmeyer says there will be five members on the board.


"They'll be appointed to five-year terms. Generally, what we do is we stagger them so somebody rolls off every year. It's very similar to the library advisory board we created about a year ago. What it also does is create the position of Airport Manager. That position becomes a department head, just like all other city department heads.....and follow under the non-union employee handbook."


Dennis Schmitt was appointed as Beatrice Municipal Airport Manager. He was hired by the authority board about three months ago, filling a position left by the retirement of long-time Airport Manager, Diana Smith.