I only wish I had “only invested pennies,” as erroneously noted in a July 1 letter to the editor by Omer Lupien. Yes, through an entity I founded, I own and operate the Oak Harbor Airport. No, this ownership isn’t free and clear. Brooke Barnes, as I did, bought a debt of Harbor Airlines. While I have invested several hundred thousand dollars thus far, Mr. Barnes invested about $60,000 and, like me, understandably is trying to recover his investment.

At least, after seven years of litigation and the many costs thereof, there is no question that my company owns the airport, and that, if some public entity steps up to buy it as part of a plan to bring home some available tax dollars to improve the airport, my company is a legitimate and qualified seller.

In the meantime, I am working to improve the airport. Years of accumulated junk has been removed. Buildings have been repaired and painted. The runway is being repaired, and the fuel tanks have been brought into compliance with the latest ecological rules. Planning is under way for new hangars. I took the step of renaming the airport in order to make the community aware of the changes and that the question of ownership has been settled definitively.

I hope to sell the naming rights to the airport just as the names “Key Arena” and “Safeco Field” have been sold. I am 74 and will not own the airport forever but, hopefully, with the revenues from fuel sales, naming rights and hangar rentals, no future owner will be tempted to close the airport for unrelated development.

I’d like to thank Pete Morgan and the entire group of users who have pitched in and kept the airport open during the past seven years of uncertainty. Let’s all work together to ensure aviation’s future on Whidbey Island!

A.J. Eisenberg

Seattle