There have been tensions at Katama Airfield this summer, with town officials looking into whether the field is properly managed and addressing ongoing concerns about funding for a new hangar.

The small grass airfield on town-owned land was the subject of a meeting last week attended by the conservation commission, two selectmen, and members of the Katama airfield commission. In June selectmen sent a letter to the airfield commission outlining concerns about management, noting that manager George Smith had not been present every day. The town said that violated the terms of the lease, which requires the manager to be present at the airfield from May 15 to Sept. 15. The letter raised concerns that the assistant manager left in charge in his absence was not properly licensed.

Town administrator Pamela Dolby said the town has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration and Mass Aeronuatics to find out more about the legality of having an unlicensed manager in charge. She said her main concern was the town’s liability as airfield owners.

“The town has been the victim of lawsuits out there. They are not pleasant,” Mrs. Dolby said. “That should be the town of Edgartown’s concern, the liability factor . . . It’s our responsibility to make sure [taxpayers] are protected.”

Airport commissioner Hal Findlay said it was his understanding that under state aeronautics law, the airfield manager can appoint a supervisor that would be in charge in the event of his absence. But he pointed out that the airfield manager’s lease with the town sets out different terms.

“I think the results of the inquiry will show that the airport is generally run within the regulations,” Mr. Findlay said. “The question is the tenor of the lease agreement.”

He added: “I do know personally that a responsible individual has been there from sunrise to sunset since the airport opened May 15.”

Mr. Smith said he had been absent from the airfield for about 18 days, not the 30 days alleged in the town’s letter to the airfield. Flights did not leave the airport on 10 of those days, he said. He added that it was unreasonable to expect him to be onsite for 14 hours a day for 17 weeks straight, and pointed out he had to leave the airport at other points in the summer for required managing training.

Town officials said their main concern was prolonged absences, and what should be done in that case.

“What we have here is a violation of the agreement, and we don’t know what our liability is,” Mrs. Dolby said.

“It doesn’t need to be 14-hour days,” selectman Michael Donaroma said. “Lack of days was the town’s concern . . . we weren’t aware of that, so it stirred everything up.”

Mr. Findlay suggested that he and the airport commission would research the issue and propose a solution for the rest of the season. Mrs. Dolby said she would also seek advice from town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport.

Discussion turned to a long-running project to replace a run-down World War II-era hangar at the airfield. The process was complicated by the town’s complex joint ownership agreement with the state and The Nature Conservancy. After years of wrangling, plans for a new 6,000-square-foot hangar similar in style to the current 2,650 hangar were cleared last summer.

Conservation commission chairman Edward (Peter) Vincent Jr. said he and members of the airfield commission had recently learned that funding set aside in an airfield trust for the hanger was less than originally thought. “The money to be used for the hangar, which had been represented to me as $300,000 to $400,000 is only $68,000 at this point,” he said. If that was true, he added, he didn’t see any way the work could be completed.

Former airfield commissioner Bob Stone, who represents the Katama Airfield Trust, responded sharply. He said the amount in the trust had never been misrepresented, but rather the cost of the project has gone up in the years it’s taken to get required permissions. The meeting grew heated at times as the two went back and forth.

“Right now there’s not enough money to build the hangar,” Mr. Vincent said, and noted that the town’s contribution through Community Preservation Act funding would subject the project to public bidding laws. 
“I hope we can,” Mr. Stone said. “I’d be willing to try. We’ve been trying for 20 years.” He said the trust hopes to secure more private funding towards the project, which has an estimated price tag of about $1 million.