Briscoe Advisory Committee Meets for First Time

It was a crowded conference room Tuesday afternoon as the Airport Privatization Citizens Review Committee held its . 

The three rows of chairs squeezed in the small room were not enough for all the public who came out to sit in on the meeting. Extra chairs were brought in, and even still, some attendees had to sit just outside the door.

The meeting was so the eleven committee members could set up leadership and rules. The committee will have to have a report on the airport ready by the Feb. 15, 2012 deadline.

Eric "Tip" Cate of Suwanee was unanimously elected chairman of the committee, and Gary Custar of Snellville was chosen vice-chairman.

The committee will evaluate and decide what the best uses of Briscoe Field will be tomorrow, in five years and 25 years from now. They will examine if the airport should remain public, privatize or privatize and commercialize.

One major issue brought up was how and when the public may comment. The committee decided to look into setting up a blog or website where the public may submit comments to be read by all committee members. Special email accounts for the members will also be created. During meetings, the committee agreed to follow Gwinnett County's guidelines for public comment, allowing each person three minutes each to make their comments. Thirty minutes total will be allocated at the end of the meeting for the entire comment and response period between the public and the committee. However, the committee agreed to extend that time limit if needed.

The next meeting will be held Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. at the airport operations building at Briscoe Field.