By MATTHEW MILLER
mrmiller@lsj.com
March 3, 2011
From the Lansing State Journal
The time was hardly right for Lansing Community College to buy a new building for its aviation mechanics program.
The time was hardly right for Lansing Community College to buy a new building for its aviation mechanics program.
For the past five months, the Michigan State Police have been investigating "perceived irregularities in the acquisition and disposition of aircraft parts" by employees in the program.
Its two lead faculty members have been placed on administrative leave, and an analysis of the college's academic programs released last week said the future of aviation mechanics is still under review, that it could be eliminated altogether.
Nonetheless, late last month LCC paid $700,000 to buy a hangar at Mason Jewett Field and, in doing so, settled a breach of contract lawsuit filed the building's owner, Dustin Preston.
"It was necessary to resolve the issues, and so it was brought to a conclusion," said Brent Knight, the college's president. "The timing, obviously, is not what we had in mind."
Knight signed a five-year, $159,360-a-year lease on the hangar in June 2009. The deal hadn't been approved by the college's Board of Trustees, but Knight had been led to believe board members would support it. They didn't.
The college paid Preston a $15,000 deposit.
It paid $13,280 for the first month's rent. Then it stopped paying.
The fact that Knight had already signed the lease put the college in "a complicated position," board Chair Deborah Canja said, "and it resulted from some misunderstandings and created some misunderstandings which we regret."
Preston sued in February of last year.
LCC countersued a month later, saying the college wouldn't be able to exercise an option to purchase the building laid out in the original contract because Capital Region Airport Authority has first right of refusal.
The apparent problems with the acquisition and disposition of aircraft parts came to light in October.
The investigation, which LCC requested, is ongoing and, according to Knight, could expand beyond the state police.
"The federal government may well have an interest," he said. "There are rules and regulations regarding the disposition and the transfer of any federal property."
Canja said the aviation mechanics program is still viable.
"It's full every year. Good jobs are produced from it, and we had fully intended to go forward with it," she said.
But the program isn't cheap.
It cost $172,000 more last year than it brought in, meaning each of its 53 students received the equivalent of a $3,250 subsidy.
Knight would make no promises about its future.
"The standing of the program as of the moment is we're awaiting the results of the inquiry, and that's as far as I can go for today."
Preston bought the building for $449,000 in July 2009. In addition to the $700,000, he will be allowed to keep the $28,000 he's already received from LCC.
He declined to comment on the deal, other than to confirm that the building had been sold.
In a sense, the college came out better than it might have. The five-year lease would have cost nearly $800,000.
But whether the aviation mechanics program will ever move to Mason, that's still up in the air.
Its two lead faculty members have been placed on administrative leave, and an analysis of the college's academic programs released last week said the future of aviation mechanics is still under review, that it could be eliminated altogether.
Nonetheless, late last month LCC paid $700,000 to buy a hangar at Mason Jewett Field and, in doing so, settled a breach of contract lawsuit filed the building's owner, Dustin Preston.
"It was necessary to resolve the issues, and so it was brought to a conclusion," said Brent Knight, the college's president. "The timing, obviously, is not what we had in mind."
Knight signed a five-year, $159,360-a-year lease on the hangar in June 2009. The deal hadn't been approved by the college's Board of Trustees, but Knight had been led to believe board members would support it. They didn't.
The college paid Preston a $15,000 deposit.
It paid $13,280 for the first month's rent. Then it stopped paying.
The fact that Knight had already signed the lease put the college in "a complicated position," board Chair Deborah Canja said, "and it resulted from some misunderstandings and created some misunderstandings which we regret."
Preston sued in February of last year.
LCC countersued a month later, saying the college wouldn't be able to exercise an option to purchase the building laid out in the original contract because Capital Region Airport Authority has first right of refusal.
The apparent problems with the acquisition and disposition of aircraft parts came to light in October.
The investigation, which LCC requested, is ongoing and, according to Knight, could expand beyond the state police.
"The federal government may well have an interest," he said. "There are rules and regulations regarding the disposition and the transfer of any federal property."
Canja said the aviation mechanics program is still viable.
"It's full every year. Good jobs are produced from it, and we had fully intended to go forward with it," she said.
But the program isn't cheap.
It cost $172,000 more last year than it brought in, meaning each of its 53 students received the equivalent of a $3,250 subsidy.
Knight would make no promises about its future.
"The standing of the program as of the moment is we're awaiting the results of the inquiry, and that's as far as I can go for today."
Preston bought the building for $449,000 in July 2009. In addition to the $700,000, he will be allowed to keep the $28,000 he's already received from LCC.
He declined to comment on the deal, other than to confirm that the building had been sold.
In a sense, the college came out better than it might have. The five-year lease would have cost nearly $800,000.
But whether the aviation mechanics program will ever move to Mason, that's still up in the air.
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