The story of Freewing Aerial Robotics Corp.'s effort to open its first manufacturing plant in Carroll County is a tale of misunderstandings, mistakes, bureaucratic delays and frustration that exhausted the reservoirs of good will on both sides.
And that was just the first 12 months.
In the aftermath of the discovery that the planned aircraft manufacturing plant encroaches on a runway protection zone for the county airport, county and corporate officers are raising the possibility of lawsuits. The building was to go on a 3-acre county-owned lot in the air business center north of Westminster.
Executive Vice President Odile Legeay said the Freewing officers "have not made a final decision" on whether to take legal action against the county.
County Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy hinted that the county might have a damage claim against its airport consulting engineer, Delta Associates Inc.
The irony of the site problem is not lost on Freewing President Hugh Schmittle. "For a whole year, we had a site but no contract. At the last 'meeting to end all meetings' we got a lease agreement and now we don't have a site," he said.
"Meeting to end all meetings" has become Mr. Schmittle's code phrase for the occasional sessions called in the past year by William E. Jenne, former county economic development administrator, to try to get a resolution of issues.
But each "final" meeting was followed by disagreements that eventually led to another meeting, the most recent in mid-May.
County government representatives still hope to help Freewing find a suitable site.
"The glitch we had at the air business center was just that, a glitch," said Robert "Max" Bair, the commissioners' executive assistant and head of economic development for the county. He said county officials have considered two sites, one unsuitable because of infrastructure problems, another with some "sub-options possibilities."
In addition, the Freewing executives are "free to explore anything they want," Mr. Bair said.
Freewing had planned to move into a 20,000-square-foot plant ++ on the county-owned lot by the end of 1993.
The corporation makes unmanned aircraft with pivot wings that provide a smoother flight in turbulence than conventional fixed-wing planes. It plans to employ 12 workers initially; 40 by the end of its first year.
FAA approval unlikely
The Federal Aviation Administration has not made a formal decision yet on whether to allow the building to encroach on an obstruction-free zone along the airport runway.
But Dean Leister, county construction project coordinator, said the agency has indicated that it will reject the county's request to permit the encroachment.
The FAA requires the clear zone for a precision instrument landing system the county wants to buy for the airport. Sometimes FAA allows obstructions if they are not hazardous. The problem was discovered in March during a review of Freewing's site plan.
Mike Zurik, FAA spokesman, reiterated last week that the matter is under study.
Freewing officers are considering other sites, but the corporation needs access to a taxiway to test its pivot-wing aircraft. Few lots are available at the county air business center that meet the criteria.
Frustration with county
Executives of the company express frustration with drawn-out negotiations and situations in which one county representative sends them documents that do not reflect agreements they thought they had reached with another county representative.
Their December 1993 deadline has been pushed back to July. Discovery of the runway encroachment made that deadline unrealistic.
"We're bidding on government contracts," said Mr. Schmittle. "God forbid we should get one."
Freewing executives say they learned of the runway protection zone problem only when a reporter from The Sun asked for comment.
"We haven't heard apologies. We haven't heard, 'What can we do?' We haven't heard anything" from the county, said Ms. Legeay.
County officials won't comment publicly on the working relationship because they don't want to jeopardize what Mr. Lippy calls "what slender chances we have of keeping Freewing here."
Mary Lou Baker, a public information officer for the Maryland Department of Economic and Employment Development who has worked with Freewing, defends Carroll's efforts.
The Freewing executives' problems with Carroll County "may be in their own minds," Ms. Baker said. "Carroll County has worked very hard to resolve all their difficulties, but you can't please all the people all the time."
The Freewing difficulties led Commissioner Julia W. Gouge's colleagues to agree with her contention that the county economic development office should be bolstered with the appointment of a director.
"This has taught us that we need someone who can truly negotiate with people and who has the time to spend with prospective clients," Mrs. Gouge said.
Mr. Jenne resigned in May to take another job.
Oil leaked on lot
Mr. Schmittle and Ms. Legeay also expressed dismay that county representatives did not reveal an environmental problem with the Route 97 lot at the start of the site search.
"I don't think there was an effort to palm [the lot] off or really keep Freewing ignorant of that, but the environmental problem was not, as far as I know, any great shakes," Mr. Lippy said.
The Maryland Department of the Environment cited the county in August 1989 for open and leaking containers of waste oil at what was then the county recycling center. The department ordered the county to remove contaminated soil, and by October 1990 determined that no further action was necessary and closed the books on the incident, said spokesman Louis G. Gieszl.
Freewing executives say the lease agreement proposed by Deputy County Attorney George A. Lahey would force the aircraft manufacturer to take responsibility for possible future problems from the oil leak.
Mr. Lahey refused to comment. But County Attorney Charles W. Thompson said Freewing is trying to get the county to assume risk for possible future pollution that could be caused by other sources.
Instrument system kept
Ms. Legeay suggested that the county could make the lot suitable for Freewing's building by abandoning plans for the instrument landing system, which would reduce the required runway protection zone. The commissioners refused.
"To encourage corporate aircraft to base here, which means tax dollars to Carroll County, we need an instrument landing system," said airport operator June Poage.
Kevin V. Murphy, director of media relations for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said an instrument system, which allows more precise approaches, "increases the value of the airport for not only pilots, but also the surrounding community."
County Commissioner Donald I. Dell said county officials discussed building the Freewing plant as planned.
"Then in 10 or 15 years when we add the ILS, we'd relocate the business and tear the building down," he said. But that option was rejected because the county would be committing itself to demolish a useful building.
A vacant lot at the north end of the air business center adjoining Meadow Branch Road "would be perfect" for the Freewing plant, Ms. Legeay said. But it does not yet have road access, water or sewer service.
The lot is part of the air business center property that the county government sold to a private developer in the 1980s for $28,000 an acre. If the county bought it back at the current asking price of about $100,000 an acre, even with Freewing repaying the cost, "we'd be criticized for that," Mr. Dell said.
The commissioner faulted Freewing executives for not being more receptive to leasing part of the Quality Glass and Aluminum Inc. building on Airport Drive.
Ms. Legeay said that building is "marginally suitable," but the price and other conditions the owner wanted to impose led her and Mr. Schmittle to reject the idea.
The Freewing executives say, and the written records support, that they consistently returned proposed leases to the county attorney's offices within a few weeks of receiving them, then waited months for an answer from the county.
Mr. Thompson said he did not believe the proposed agreements "were unduly delayed" in getting back to Freewing.