Visnapuu replaces Smith on board
By Ed Runyan
VIENNA — Andres Visnapuu, a retired former business owner from Boardman, has filled the vacancy on the Western Reserve Port Authority created by the resignation of Clarence Smith.
Visnapuu, 53, owned Eagle Supply of Youngstown from 1983 to 2004. Eagle Supply was in the publishing and distribution business.
Before that, Visnapuu worked in neighborhood revitalization for Cleveland for two years.
Smith, who served the port authority from April 1994 until last month, is most likely the longest- serving member in its history, said John Masternick, board vice chairman.
Visnapuu is one of four Mahoning County representatives on the board.
At Wednesday’s port authority meeting, officials reported that the board finished the year in the black, despite concerns in July that it might run out of money before the end of the year.
Masternick said the board saw a decrease of about $100,000 in its revenue in 2010 but was able to cut costs by about $100,000.
Most of the revenue the port authority uses to run the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport comes from a portion of the hotel-motel taxes collected by Trumbull and Mahoning counties and paid to the port authority.
In 2009, Mahoning County’s total was $391,608, and Trumbull County’s total was $225,352, a combined $616,960.
Kevin Kern, an accounting consultant to the board, said those totals showed a substantial decrease in revenue from Trumbull County but a similar amount from Mahoning County. Mahoning County has more hotels and motels than Trumbull County, he noted.
Several members of the port authority had a meeting last week with several local, state and federal economic development officials to discuss possible ways to acquire capital improvement money needed to upgrade certain facilities at the airport, Masternick said.
For exampe, Hangar 1 at the airport, built in 1934 and leased by Winner Aviation, hasn’t been used much of the winter, in part because of repairs that are needed there, Masternick said.