The Daily Standard
Story Archive
CELINA - The Lakefield Airport Authority has been dissolved, and the ownership and operation of the Lakefield Airport has reverted to Mercer County under the control of the Mercer County Commissioners.
Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Matthew Fox issued the order of dissolution on July 27, ruling in favor of a a petition filed by the Lakefield Airport Authority.
LAA members had unanimously voted to dissolve effective Dec. 31, 2025, and to transfer all airport operations and responsibilities to the county commissioners. LAA held a special meeting alongside the county commissioners on Dec. 18. They learned there is scant statutory guidance regarding the dissolution of an airport board.
"Existing guidance indicates that a lawsuit must be filed to proceed with dissolution," meeting minutes state.
In a letter, Mercer County Prosecutor Erin Minor indicated that under special circumstances her office may represent the LAA for the limited purpose of dissolution, granted that all parties agree to a potential conflict of interest and sign a waiver.
Commissioners proceeded to do just that. They passed a resolution agreeing to a waiver of conflict of interest and permitting the prosecutor's office to represent LAA for the aforementioned limited purpose of dissolution.
"The Mercer County Commissioners are amenable to the dissolution of the Airport Authority and have no objection to taking over the ownership, management, and responsibility of the same," the resolution states.
The impetus behind the dissolution is largely the difficulty in consistently achieving a quorum of LAA members to conduct business, according to Commissioner Dave Buschur.
Officials worked behind the scenes for about a year or so to lay the groundwork for the LAA's disbandment and the assumption of its duties by the board of county commissioners.
"The membership of the board hadn't been at its fullest potential as what it was in the past," Buschur told The Daily Standard on Wednesday. "A lot of the members were getting older … but carried it on to try to keep it moving forward, hoping for more volunteers, because it is a volunteer board. They're unpaid. It just got to the point where they were ready to turn the airport over to the county to operate."
The transfer of power allows for "a clearer path forward," Buschur has maintained.
"We'll still have input from the folks out there, whether it's the people that are passionate about flying or the people who rent the airport hangar space," he told the newspaper in late December. "There's a lot of counties that have county-run facilities, and there's quite a few counties that have airport authority facilities, so I don't think one's better than the other, by any means."
LAA was ordered to transfer two authority vehicles - a 2013 Town & Country and a 2018 Venture - and 16 parcels of land to Mercer County. The LAA purchased the properties with federal funding to establish clear air space, according to Buschur.
Moreover, Mercer County, through its county commissioners, was authorized to take responsibility for the underground fuel tanks at the airport. All utilities and other services will be transferred to Mercer County and be payable by the board of county commissioners.
LAA is authorized to keep control of its checking account and cash for up to 365 days to wind down its affairs and pay outstanding bills, per Fox's order.
All decision-making regarding to the airport and its operations now falls to commissioners. Airport business will be conducted during the commissioners' weekly Tuesday and Thursday sessions, according to Buschur.
"Since the airport board has now dissolved, all matters out there at Lakefield will just be … county matters of the board of commissioners," Buschur said. "We'll continue to try to make the improvements that the airport board had put in place with their 10-year plans. The parallel taxiway that has kind of been talked about and discussed in that 10-year plan is something that the FAA agrees would be a positive."
Asked by the newspaper, Buschur revealed he's confident in the board's ability to carry out governance of the airport, which is located at 6177 State Route 219.
Not that long ago, they said they hired Jonathan Jeffries as the airport manager.
"The airport manager, Jonathan Jeffries, he is full-time. The county hired that and the commissioners did pay for that outside of the airport to help the airport out a couple of years ago now," Buschur said. "Jonathan has been reporting kind of directly to us as this dissolution has been progressing through the courts."
Commissioners and Mercer County community development director Jared Ebbing began getting more involved with the airport a few years back when the LAA initiated the installation of a new jet fuel station, Buschur had noted.
"We've had some exposure out there, thankfully, prior to this change, something that helps us," Buschur said.
Getting a good grasp on protocols and processes of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose grants fund as much as 95% of improvement projects at the airport, are among the most pressing priorities, Buschur said.
"The county has always been kind of the sponsor on any of the FAA grants that the airport authority has gone after or have received, so we've always kind of been liable for the grants," Buschur said.
The airport is open 24-7 and offers self-service fueling with a credit card. It sees all kinds of visitors - leisure pilots, business owners and executives, and other travelers, LAA board president Gary Lefeld said during an interview with the newspaper a few years ago for an airport profile story.
The airport's asphalt runway is 4,400 feet long by 75 feet wide and can handle a range of airplanes and helicopters.
Lakefield Airport houses roughly 30 plans in seven hangars, erstwhile airport manager Steve Shinabery previously told The Daily Standard.
"I think it's in pretty good shape," Buschur said. "I think we need to pay attention to some asphalt work that needs to be done out there. But as far as the hangars, I think we've been spending a lot of time paying attention to hangars, making improvements there. I know some of the windsocks that are about 40 foot in the air were changed last month just because of the high winds here probably."
