Council, airport department struggle to agree

City seeks to annex SR Technics land

The assistance was part of a financial package assembled to sway SR Technics to buy an unused aircraft production facility owned by The Boeing Co.

Palmdale offered $2.2 million in redevelopment funds and $3.2 million in waived municipal fees, while Los Angeles World Airports - the airport department of the city of Los Angeles - offered a $12.5 million fire-suppression system and the California Trade and Commerce Department offered state incentives worth $79 million.

In return, SR Technics was to agree to keep its North American maintenance and refurbishment facility open in Palmdale for 10 years.

But Palmdale cannot live up to its promise if SR Technics sits on land outside its city boundaries - land that is owned by Los Angeles World Airports.

According to Laurie Lile, Palmdale's director of planning, Los Angeles World Airports will not allow the city to annex the land unless a development agreement is reached with the city.

One of the final sticking points is Los Angeles World Airports' request for the land to revert back to its unincorporated status should SR Technics leave after its 10 years are up, Lile said.

Granting that reversion is not within the city of Palmdale's power, Lile told the council, and attempts to make that clear have been unsuccessful.

"As of (Wednesday) afternoon, we finally received, after about 60 days, a letter from their attorney. The letter clearly indicates they still do not understand that we don't have the authority to agree that the annexation would automatically revert back to the county at the end of the agreement," she said.

"If we could do that, we certainly would agree to that kind of provision. But it's simply not something the city has the authority to agree to," Lile said.

"So it appears there is still some work to be done on this development agreement with LAWA."

June Savala, executive assistant of the Local Agency Formation Commission, agreed with Lile's statements.

"Just like the city would have to come to us to annex land, it would have to come to us to detach land," Savala said.

"Under the provisions of the law, each action has to come back to LAFCO."

Nancy Castles, communications director for Los Angeles World Airports, said Los Angeles World Airports officials were unaware of the problem described by Lile.

"The city of Palmdale has not formally, or even informally, notified us that they have any problems with the letter we sent back to them," Castles said.

"We don't know they have this issue with LAFCO."

At this point, Los Angeles World Airports is waiting for a formal response from the city, she said.

"We are in negotiation on these issues, and all the issues and conditions (of the proposed development agreement) may change," Castles said.

"We are sure we can work something out."

If the city were to wait until the agreement is adopted before submitting the annexation request to LAFCO, "We're then looking at another six to nine months to go," Lile said.

To hasten the process, the city should submit the annexation request immediately in the hope of reaching an agreement with Los Angeles World Airports in the near future, she said.

The council agreed and approved the request for annexation without comment.

Despite the delay in municipal assistance, SR Technics began operations in August, when it began refurbishing the first of 57 Federal Express DC-10 cargo planes.

The company is expected to hire up to 6,000 employees by 2004, creating jobs with paychecks averaging $59,000 a year.