Owner Says She Is Current On Rent Payments To Santa Maria Airport, Will Seek Lease Extension

The owner of a business she claims is one of only 162 aircraft painting facilities in the country says she is being threatened with eviction from Santa Maria Airport on the central California coast because she has been late paying some of her bills in the past.

But Teresa Arredondo, the owner and operator of Art Craft Paint, says she is now current with all of her payments, and that her company brings a lot of revenue to the airport. She told television station KCOY that over the 28 years she's been in business, she has paid $1.7 million in rent to the airport, and has no outstanding bills with the airport authority.

The company was scheduled to ask the Santa Maria Airport Board for a five year extension on its lease Thursday, and the issue is on the agenda for the next regular meeting of the Santa Maria Airport Board being held Monday. Tom Widroe, acting as a spokesperson for the paint company, told the television station that reprieve for the company might be predicated on Art Craft making timely payments for one year, with a possible four-year extension.

Arredondo insists she has paid everything that she owes to the airport, and that her business has generated "millions of dollars" for the facility. She says her employees are concerned about what may happen at Monday's meeting. "We're going to be out on the streets looking for something else," said Antonio Arredondo.

FMI: www.santamariaairport.com, http://artcraftpaint.com