SELINSGROVE -- Members of the Penn Valley Airport Authority have struck a deal to have Heritage Aviation bail the airport out of financial turmoil.

Authority Chairman Glen Rohrer said the authority unanimously approved an agreement with Heritage at its meeting Thursday night.

The terms of the agreement turn over the day-to-day operations of the airport -- takeoffs and landings, flight school, fuel services -- to Heritage, while the authority maintains ownership.

Heritage also has agreed to pick up about $165,000 in maintenance work that needs to be done at the airport, as well as the interest on the remaining $400,000 in airport debt, Rohrer said.

The authority will pay off the principal on the rest of that debt -- using money collected from surrounding municipalities that have pledged financial support to the airport -- through a low-interest loan provided by the John Foundation, an institution established by the owners of Heritage and Ritz-Craft.

"It's absolutely wonderful these guys came in," Rohrer said. "(Heritage) provides an aspect of management that the authority couldn't effectively provide."

If Heritage had not stepped in, it's likely the airport would have collapsed under the weight of its debt. Rohrer had said at a previous meeting that the authority had to strike a deal with Heritage or some other private firm or else the airport would close.

Airport employees had worried they would lose their jobs if operation of the airport was turned over to a private firm, and as of Thursday, none of them was on the airport's payroll.

Rohrer said airport manager Sue Sprenkel was fired Tuesday. Assistant manager Rich Staugaitis also was the owner of Penn Rich Aviation -- one of the airport's two tenants along with flight school Penn-Selin Air -- but he declined to renew his contract with the airport after it expired, as did Penn-Selin Air.

Staugaitis' position as assistant manager subsequently was eliminated.

The airport's three part-time employees left on their own, Rohrer said. After it takes over operation, Heritage will supply employees and seek tenants to lease the spots vacated by Penn Rich Aviation and Penn-Selin Air.

"During the interim ... we have people who are going to volunteer (and manage the day-to-day operations of the airport)," Rohrer said. "At this point, it's members of the authority."

He said the details of the agreement would be made public today.

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