The Panama City – Bay County Airport Authority board members settled part of the case with the state. The airport will pay the Florida Department of Environmental Protection 250-thousand dollars for violations and clean-up costs for storm water off violations.

The D-E-P issued a consent order after heavy rains this spring carried mud from the new airport site into neighboring wetlands. The airport will be allowed to pay some of the costs with in-kind services.

Airport officials say had the rains come a few weeks later, the construction would have been at a stage where the run-off wouldn't have occurred.

The board also has a hold harmless agreement with Phoenix Construction for the work on the storm water system and it could ask Phoenix to pay the fines.

Joe Tannehill Sr. is the Airport authority chairman.

"This is not the fault of the board. We have the best people we could with the best contractual agreement we could. It's just a 20 inch rain hit us at the wrong time."

Workers have been cleaning up the site since April, and additional storm water run-off measures are underway.

Airport Board members also voted to adopt a new lease agreement at the new airport with Bay Aircraft Owners which owns aircraft hangars at the existing airport. The negotiations, which have been contentious at times, took months.

The airport agreed to build new hurricane proof hangars at the new airport for no cost to the group. Aircraft owners will pay 30-cents a square foot in rent each month for the first 16 years.