Dean Leister has been removed as manager of Carroll County Regional Airport amid controversy over the airport?s runway expansion.
Leister served 2 1/2 years as airport manager before Steven Powell, county chief of staff, removed him last week, said County Commissioner Michael Zimmer.
“We?d like someone with a little more aviation experience,” said Zimmer, who approved Powell?s decision. “It?s nothing against Mr. Leister. He?s a perfectly good, competent person.”
Leister was reassigned in the county to project manager in the bureau of building construction, the position he held before becoming airport manager.
Jeff Topper, Carroll?s administrator of the office of management analysis, is acting manager until a replacement can be hired.
While a band of Westminster residents have railed against the county-owned airport?s runway expanding from 5,100 to 6,400 feet, Zimmer denied the manager change had anything to do with it.
“In hindsight, we maybe should have accelerated our decision-making process,” Zimmer said. “We would need to do this with orwithout the expansion.”
Residents oppose the expansion because they believe it will bring in larger and louder planes, disturbing their rural surroundings. The county, however, has consulted Federal Aviation Administration officials, who say the expansion will not bring in larger craft.
The county is looking for “an experienced airport manager to develop the business potential of the existing Carroll County Regional Airport,” reads a county statement.
The manager is responsible for developing goals, marketing the airport and ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations.
Leister could not be reached for comment.
While the county oversees operations at the airport, which sits just north of Westminster, it has a separate budget, called an “enterprise fund,” which helps defray expenses through the sale of jet fuel.
In September, fierce opposition forced the county commissioners to go with their second choice for a consultant to look into the Westminster airport expansion.
Carroll?s commissioners selected Delta Airport Consultants Inc. to carry out the next step in the airport?s controversial expansion ? an environmental impact study.
The commissioners voted unanimously to hire Delta instead of URS Corp., the same company that recommended the county expand the airport.
Delta is to gather information on the expansion for state and federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration.
