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Two weeks after a circuit judge ordered cooperation between Baxter County Judge Kevin Litty and the Airport Commission, the Baxter County Quorum Court is set to consider dissolving the commission entirely in its first meeting of the year this evening.
The ordinance, if passed, would repeal the commission’s authority and replace it with a five-member advisory board appointed by Litty. The move comes after Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey’s December 23 ruling that split authority over airport operations between Litty and the commission.
In his ruling, Bailey determined that while only Litty can execute airport leases, the commission has “the right to negotiate and ultimately dictate the terms” of those agreements. The judge emphasized that both parties must “work together for the common goal of safeguarding the airport and, ultimately, the interests of the citizens of Baxter County.”
The tension escalated last year when the commission filed suit against Litty, characterizing him as a “despot” and “County Property Czar” in their legal filings. In an interview with the Observer following the filing of the suit, Litty expressed frustration with the commission’s approach.
“I got a good job. I got people around me. They’re awesome. Everybody helps everybody. We work together,” Litty told the Observer. “But with that organization, I can’t work with them. I hate it because I’m a team player, but I can’t work with them.”
At the heart of the dispute is a controversial 2017 lease agreement with Brad Hasselwander. The initial agreement drew scrutiny due to Hasselwander’s personal and business ties to several commission members at the time, with multiple commissioners abstaining from voting on the lease terms due to these connections.
The hangar was primarily constructed using state airport improvement funds granted to Baxter County Airport, with Hasselwander contributing approximately $200,000 toward construction while receiving a 15-year lease at $0.15 per square foot. Change orders during construction added another $225,000 to Hasselwander’s contribution.
Despite no lease being formally executed, the airport and county accepted Hasselwander’s money and proceeded with construction. Hasselwander has since been recouping his investment by claiming advanced rent paid, effectively occupying the airport’s largest and most luxurious hangar without making any direct rental payments.
According to FAA market-rate guidelines, this arrangement is costing county taxpayers an estimated $72,000 annually, or approximately $360,000 over the past five years. If the current terms continue, the arrangement could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands more over the next decade.
Other hangar owners have expressed disapproval of the lease terms, viewing the $0.15 per square foot rate as preferential treatment compared to their own lease agreements.
Neither Hasselwander nor former Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass ever signed an official lease, though Pendergrass had given his blessing during the original negotiations. Hasselwander moved into the hangar in 2020 without a signed agreement.
“The commission agreed to it,” Litty told the Observer. “This man had the money to make it happen. Who else had $425,000 to come to the airport and say, ‘Hey guys, I’ll put this money in it out of my pocket with the grant money and we’ll build this hangar, and I’ll lease it?'”
Gerald Gaige, an airport tenant and aviation advocate, plans to speak against the ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting, citing several concerns about the proposed changes.
“The current commission has operated effectively, consistently delivering more than $5 million annually to the local economy,” Gaige wrote in his registration to speak. “No other county in Arkansas operates with the proposed structure of an ‘advisory board.'”
After the Commission filed the suit, Litty told the Observer that the breakdown between himself and the Commission had forced him to reconsider his political future.
“When I took this position, when I got elected, I wanted to do it for two terms, take me down to 62 years old,” Litty told the Observer. “But I can’t sit by and not do what I think is right on the basis of getting reelected.”
Court documents revealed Litty held previously undisclosed meetings with Hasselwander and his attorney Mark Cooper on October 9 and October 23 at the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to discuss the lease without the commission’s knowledge. Campaign finance records showed Hasselwander was among the contributors to Litty’s primary election campaign.
The relationship between Litty and the commission has deteriorated significantly during the dispute. An October meeting devolved into shouting matches and profanity, with Litty acknowledging the heated exchange in his interview with the Observer.
“I know I said it’s ‘bullshit’,” Litty said. “Afterwards, I apologized to him because me and him kind of got along, but there was a couple others that said ‘shit’ or something. There was a couple more other cuss words dropped in the meeting.”
In the same meeting, Commission Chairman Dr. Stephen Vester said the Commission would file a “friendly lawsuit” if Litty did not budge on the issue of the Hasselwander hangar after Litty questioned why he needed the commission in the first place.
When the Commission’s use of the terms ‘despot’ and ‘County Property Czar’ were reported on by the Observer, Vester denied that the Commission had used the language, before ultimately retracting his denial after being shown a screenshot of the language in the lawsuit.
While Litty has owned up to and apologized for losing his temper and swearing during October’s meeting, the Commission has not offered the judge a public apology for the dictatorial name-calling.
The Commission also appears to have stretched the truth on some of the other allegations made against Litty, such as the judge allowing his friends to place corn at the end of the runway to attract deer for hunting, in their suit. In reality, Litty was asked by a local hunter for permission to hunt in a wooded area next to the airport that was owned by the county.
The property is not a part of the airport and is outside the bounds of the airport’s fencing and runway. After checking to make sure it was all right legally, Litty allowed the hunter, who had a history of hunting on the property, to go bow hunting.
While hunting, the hunter found that other hunters, who had not asked for permission, had set out corn feeders in the wooded area. The hunter took photos of the feeders and notified the judge that other hunters were using the property.
The Commission’s suit framed the situation to make it appear as if Litty was allowing hunters to place corn directly at the end of the running, creating a dangerous situation for pilots as they attempted to take off and land.
Before Christmas break, the Commission took up issue with the Observer in public social media, stating that the news outlet had never reached out despite having a face-to-face conversation during a Quorum Court meeting over the matter last year. The Observer was directed to the Commission’s meeting minutes and recordings.
Judge Litty was offered one interview by the Observer to defend himself against some of the allegations made by the Commission in their suit last year.
In addition to the suit, the FAA pulled its funding from the airport temporarily but reinstated it after Litty signed off on the lease he had created for Hasselwander.
Litty maintains that his execution of the lease helped restore FAA funding. The Commission should also receive credit for restoring funding as they continued dialogue with the FAA after the funding was retracted. The FAA, however, continues to express concerns about the lease terms’ compliance with federal requirements.
“There’s lots more things going on in this county that are equally important as the airport,” Litty told the Observer. “But the airport has been the only problem for 15 months I’ve been here.”
The proposed five-member advisory board would serve three-year terms, with all members being appointed by Litty. If approved, Baxter County would become the first airport in Arkansas to operate without a commission.
Gaige urged Litty to delay the vote, stating “there has not been time for elected representatives to study, consider and make a reasoned decision on this unprecedented change in county government.”
One Justice of the Peace on the Quorum Court, who wished to not be named, told the Observer that they believed the vote on the ordinance should be delayed allowing the public time to look over the proposed ordinance. The Justice also said it was unfair that the new members of the court were being required to take a vote on such a divisive topic in their first month in office.
Almost half of this year’s Quorum Court will be composed of new members.
The Quorum Court meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 6 in the second-floor courtroom of the courthouse. The airport commission ordinance is listed as the second item under new business on the agenda.
