From The Watch (Western San Juans, Colorado):  Following the completion of a show cause hearing that began on May 16 and ended Monday, the decision as to whether or not the county is justified in its refusal to disclose documents under the Colorado Open Records Act regarding the fixed-base operator proposal process is now in the hands of 7th Judicial District Judge James Schum.

Attorney Steven Zansberg, who represented Jet Center Partners and Ken Watson in the legal dispute, asked that Schum find that several Montrose County document custodians, including Director of Aviation Lloyd Arnold and all three Montrose County Commissioners, among others, wrongfully denied JCP documents it demanded in two separate CORA requests. Zansberg asked Schum to order the release of those documents immediately.

Schum, after hearing closing arguments, took the matter under advisement and said he would render a written decision as soon as possible.

The legal papers at the heart of the dispute include a Dec. 5 request for documents concerning a county-issued request for proposals for a second fixed-base operator at Montrose Regional Airport, as well as a Jan. 6 request that specifically asks for communications from various data storage devices of county staff that were involved in the FBO review process. JCP also seeks the original proposal submitted by Majestic Skies, the aviation company the Montrose County FBO Review Committee later deemed to meet all of the airport’s minimum standards to operate an FBO at the airport.

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