With no one upstairs, now is the time to see how much it costs to have a tenant in the terminal, Wiscasset Municipal Airport Advisory Committee Interim Chairman Steve Williams said.

Panel members and Airport Manager Frank Costa shared ideas with one another Jan. 18 about how to get the space rented and, until then, how to better understand the town’s costs as landlord. Williams encouraged Costa to check current utility bills against those while Peregrine Turbine Technologies was renting the building’s upstairs suites.

Peregrine paid $900 a month, plus any electrical costs that ran over 1,000 kilowatts a month, Costa said. The company left the airport in October in a move to former Point East properties.

This is an opportunity to see what the real costs are, to ensure the town is charging the right rent, Williams said.

In the workshop and a phone interview Jan. 19, Costa said the town did not lose money renting the space to Peregrine. But the building’s heating issues in 2016 would make a comparison of bills problematic, he said. The furnace was down and space heaters were used, impacting both fuel and electric bills, Costa said.

Participants also brought up two items they would like future leases to address: Whether or not the tenant can set up a coffee machine or other equipment in the foyer upstairs; and use of the pilots’ lounge. When people came downstairs to use kitchen equipment or get a drink from the soda machine, it was not a problem, but the lease should note the room is a pilots’ lounge and a meeting space, participants said.

Costa updated members on Town Planner Ben Averill’s progress toward renting the 900-plus square feet of space upstairs. Averill has been preparing to advertise it; the rental also remains posted on the airport’s website at wiscassetairport.com, Costa said. Participants discussed possibly putting a sign on the terminal’s front door or adding one to the set of signs at the airport’s Chewonki Neck Road entrance.

The committee continues to convert its monthly meetings to workshops for lack of a voting quorum. Williams serves as a non-resident, non-voting member. Residents Pam Brackett and Bryan Buck also serve. Two seats are open. If interested, contact the town office at 882-8200.

Costa said, unless otherwise announced, the next workshop will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 15 in the terminal.