Chelan council approves temporary RV housing for airport manager to restore on-site presence

CHELAN — Chelan City Council has approved a temporary license agreement allowing Lake Chelan Airport operations manager Paul Lerma to live on site in his own RV through the end of April, reviving a practice city staff said has long been part of how the airport has been managed.

City Administrator Laura McAloon told council the arrangement is intended to restore an on-site presence that historically came with the position. For many years, the airport manager lived on airport property in a city-owned mobile home, but that structure was no longer suitable for use and was demolished last fall.

“This is really a way to bring back that on-site presence,” McAloon said, describing the proposal as a temporary, trial solution using Lerma’s own RV rather than a city-owned residence.

Under the agreement, Lerma, a 30-hour-per-week employee, will park his RV on airport property from Jan. 1 through April 30 and provide additional evening and weekend coverage, including perimeter checks, building checks, and monitoring for security issues and trespassing.

The license agreement sets a fair-market value of $500 per month for the site. Rather than paying that amount directly, Lerma will track the additional hours worked, which will be credited against that fee. If the value of the extra work does not reach the $500 monthly amount, he would pay the difference to the city. McAloon said the expectation is that the arrangement will be revenue-neutral, though it could potentially generate a small amount of revenue.

Lerma will be responsible for all utility costs.

The RV will be connected to the same utility hookups that previously served the demolished mobile home. McAloon emphasized that the agreement is a limited license rather than a lease, and that it is explicitly temporary.

“This is a trial measure,” she said. “We want to gather data and understand what the benefit is to the city and whether it’s something we would recommend in future years.”

Several councilmembers described the proposal as a creative and practical solution, while also asking questions about zoning, precedent, and whether it could lead to similar requests from other city employees.

McAloon said the city vetted the arrangement with the city attorney and is confident it does not violate zoning or land-use rules. She also stressed that the situation is unique, tied to the airport’s history of having an on-site manager, and is not a condition of employment.

“Historically, this is how the airport operations manager lived — on site in a city-provided facility,” she said. “There really aren’t other situations like this.”

Councilmembers also asked whether the arrangement reflects increased activity or security concerns at the airport. McAloon said recent fair weather has brought more non-aviation visitors to the area, and that the airport contains valuable equipment and fuel facilities that benefit from an on-site presence.

As part of the trial, the city will track Lerma’s after-hours activity, including checks and any incidents encountered, to help evaluate whether the arrangement provides measurable benefits.

The council unanimously approved the agreement.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media