SIREN, WIS. – The trial had already been postponed two years — significant time at significant personal and taxpayer expense — and the judge and a 12-person jury had been seated. But the Village of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, (pop. 1,341), a community I know and love only so well from my days as a youth canoeing on the nearby St. Croix River, has an attorney who was seemingly unprepared, so the trial scheduled for May 5, 2025, at the Burnett County Courthouse in nearby Siren, Wisconsin, was postponed. The courthouse is located next to the Burnett County Airport (KRZN).
Postponing the trial seemed to hinge on the defense attorney not understanding the meaning of the word “maintain” or “maintenance.” While proponents to keep the airport open (airport tenants) would be satisfied if the village simply “maintained” the airport and not make any capital “improvements,” this was apparently not clear to the attorney representing the village, who apparently stated during opening comments that his entire defense hinged on his interpretation of the word “maintain,” and his interpretation included “improving” the airport.
“For over two years the village has been unwilling to even discuss the issue with us,” said Rod Kleiss, who located his business in Grantsburg, learned to fly, and bought an airplane because the community has a well-established and maintained airport.
In his preliminary meeting with the lawyers to discuss rules of engagement, the judge referred to the language in Section 15 of the lease: “Landlord shall properly maintain, operate, and manage the airport at all times in a safe manner consistent with generally accepted good practice in the State of Wisconsin for airports of similar size and character.” He stipulated that the meaning of the word “maintenance” was clear, and the village lawyer would not be allowed to argue that the meaning could be interpreted differently.
On the first day of the trial, however, the village lawyer insisted that his entire defense was based on that one word “maintenance,” and that he was unprepared to defend the village without the freedom to question the meaning of the word. So, he requested an adjournment for an indeterminate time to prepare a new defense. He was prepared to argue that in order to maintain the runways, the village would have to improve them, which was more than had been spelled out in the contract. He used the example of a bathroom remodeling job which may have been done to maintain the bathroom but actually improved it. Maintenance necessarily requires improvement, thereby voiding their responsibility because it is an unspecific word.
The judge went on to read the dictionary’s definition of the word maintenance and remarked that it is not unspecific. The lawyer for proponents of the airport said that his client simply wants the village to do what is necessary to meet the requirements outlined by the statement in Section 15 of the lease. In the end, the judge allowed the adjournment and dismissed the jury, and no one knows when the trial will be rescheduled. The last delay was 5 months.
The attorney representing the tenants of Grantsburg Municipal Airport, Matthew A. Biegert of Doar, Drill & Skow, stated:
“In order to get pilots to build hangars and sign long-term leases, the village agreed to ‘maintain, operate and manage’ the airport. The current board’s new argument that the leases don’t require it to fix the airstrip when it falls into disrepair is laughable. The board’s attorney being unprepared to proceed with a long-scheduled trial because he disagreed with the judge’s ruling, wastes time and taxpayer money.
“The pilots who use the airport want this matter resolved. The village residents passed a referendum asking that the work be done. The board ignored it. It should live up to their obligations and run the airport competently. Otherwise, if the board wants to close the airport, it should take legal action to do so. Instead, its only plan is delay.”
Any delay is perceived as a win for the village, and a costly setback for tenants. Therefore, donations to support the survival of Grantsburg Municipal Airport (KGTG) are welcomed by contacting Rod Kleiss at 715-220-5215 or via email at kleissrod@gmail.com.
See article entitled “Tenants Rally To Save Wisconsin Airport,” published in the June/July 2024 issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine): https://midwestflyer.com/tenants-rally-to-save-wisconsin-airport/
