OGDEN — An aircraft manufacturer’s request for a city council resolution endorsing the authorization of as much as $22 million in industrial revenue bonds sailed to approval Tuesday night.What's clear from this article is that the Boss Godfrey administration is quite sensitive about the mountain of debt which Boss Godfrey has accumulated during his seven years on the Emerald City throne. Ace Reporter Schwebke thus slavishly adds the always-reliable Dave Harmer's assurance that this new bonding will not place the Emerald City taxpayers "on the financial hook," even in the event of a bond payment default:
Aero Ventures LLC sought the “inducement” resolution so it can begin the process of relocating from California’s San Fernando Valley to the Ogden-Hinckley Airport where it intends to purchase the Ogden Jet Center.
The city council must next adopt a final resolution that allows bonds to be sold. The bonds would be secured by a mortgage on the Ogden Jet Center property and the value of the project.
State law allows municipalities to issue taxable industrial revenue bonds without incurring any financial liability, said Dave Harmer, Ogden community and economic development director.Indeed, Utah law does contain special provision for industrial revenue bonding, pursuant to Utah Code Section 73-10d-5. On the face of it, Mr. Harmer is technically correct, provided Emerald City doesn't do an eleventh-hour "flip flop," and suddenly sweeten the underwriting pot with additional performance guarantees. Boss Godfrey has a history of doing that, of course, as long-time WCF readers will recall.
A lender will evaluate the credit worthiness and financial strength of Aero Ventures and decide whether to provide funding, said Harmer. If the company fails to repay its financial obligations, the lender has recourse against Aero Ventures not the city, he said.
Being the curious type, and wondering about the economic viability of the subject company, we did a little googling this morning on Aero Ventures LLC. This is what we found:
• According to the Utah Department of Commerce website, Aero Ventures LLC is a Utah-qualified Limited Liability Company, registered in December 2006.
• Business address: 3348 S 1575 W SUITE # 2, Ogden.
• Agent for service of process: This guy (Max Feiz). We note that Max "loves flying, too."
• According to a May 5, 2007 Std-Ex article, Aero Ventures, LLC is a subsidiary of Aero Visions International, which operates from the same above Ogden address. A visit to the AVI website reveals that the parent company has a "well-diversified" product line. The company evidently dabbles in everything from "scenic mouse pads" to "advanced experimental aircraft."
• Neither diligent googling nor an extended "prowl" of the AVI site yielded anything about existing "facilities in California," although such was also mentioned in today's, and the May 5 Std-Ex articles. The fact that we didn't find it of course doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
• The AVI site does provide a link to the SkyShark aircraft which is mentioned in today's Schwebke article, although it's unclear whether AVI has to date manufactured a single commercially-available airplane (or kit.) The photos of the aircraft on the site are obviously artists' renditions.
• Neither company seems to be publicly-traded, so public records are unavailable to determine either company's financial strength.
Does this fledgling aircraft manufacturer have the financial capacity to make this new bonding fly? Only time will tell, we guess.
Boss Godfrey and Dave Harmer believe this company is OK however, so we guess that ought to be good enough for us -- Right?
For our own part, we'll be watching this transaction closely.
And please don't let the cat get yer tongues.
Update 5/9/07 1:27 p.m. MT: Truly diligent readers interested in further general information on the subject of industrial revenue bonding (a unique sub-set of municipal bonding devices) can follow a couple of good links here and here.
