City Settles With GA FBO In New Braunfels

What started as a dispute over some allegedly tainted avgas and escalated to the city of New Braunfels, TX, impounding a fuel truck belonging to airport tenant New Braunfels (NB) Aero and placing the company under a temporary restraining order has reportedly been settled, but the spat is apparently not completely resolved.

The city alleged that NB Aero improperly mixed and stored different fuel types, a charge that NB co-owner Sam Adams vehemently denied. Adams said the city was trying to force his business off the airport in favor of a city-owned FBO. City Attorney Alan Wayland told the San Antonio Express News that the city had concerns over how NB Aero conducted its business, but that didn't cause the flap over the fuel.

Now, the paper reports that the two parties have agreed to a settlement which will allow the FBO to re-claim its fuel truck, but the fuel will have to be destroyed. Wayland says that before it is disposed of, pilots who purchased some of the suspect fuel from NB Aero will be allowed to draw a sample for independent testing. A restraining order against NB Aero will also be lifted.

Adams said the fuel provider will reimburse him for the avgas he's losing as a result of the skirmish, which he says he'll use to buy additional fuel and make some city-mandated repairs to his facility. But he still contests that the fuel was tainted in the first place. Some local pilots agreed, saying in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung that they felt the city was withholding the results of the fuel testing to avoid having to replace the fuel.

FMI: www.ci.new-braunfels.tx.us