In the wake of a veritable flood of feedback and questions from the public, Port of Coupeville commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing regarding their pursual of the A.J. Eisenberg Airport in Oak Harbor.

The hearing will take place at noon May 17 at Greenbank Farm’s Barn A, with a Zoom option available. Port Commissioner John Callahan proposed the hearing during the port’s latest public meeting on Wednesday as a way to better educate the community about the pending airport acquisition. The Whidbey News-Times and community members urged the port to more proactively communicate its plans regarding the airport with the public.

The Port of Coupeville has had its sights on the airport on Monroe Landing Road for around a year and a half with the vision of revitalizing it under public ownership. The port’s plans have drawn both support and pushback from members of the public, with some eager to see the property maintained and reinvigorated, and others critical of the port’s approach to the project or wary of the potential cost and lack of benefit for taxpayers.

The purpose of the public hearing is public education, Callahan said.

“I think there’s a thirst out there for information,” he said. “I think it would do us well to present our case as to why we’re deciding, or why we have decided, the way we have.”

Executive Director Chris Michalopoulos added that a public hearing is the best format to engage the public in a two-way dialogue, rather than simply receive input in the form of public comment.

A number of public commenters at the port meeting Wednesday voiced their support for the port’s plan to hold a public hearing.

The scheduled date of the hearing falls just over two weeks before the end of the port’s 60-day “due diligence” period, which ends June 3. Under its agreement with Geri Morgan to receive an assignment of her right of first refusal on the property, the port has 60 days to conduct the necessary studies, research and planning to determine the feasibility of the purchase. This process includes Phase 1 and 2 environmental assessments and finalizing a funding source.

Private pilot Robert DeLaurentis, who has also moved toward purchasing the airport, has disputed the legitimacy of Morgan’s right of first refusal on the airport.