A committee formed by the Port of Benton has concluded that the port never agreed to pay water utility bills for several tenants at the Richland Airport, clarifying a key question at the heart of a controversy that has roiled the port for more than a year.

The group’s 19-page report, dated May 11 and obtained by the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business through a public records request, found that while certain tenants did fund a utility realignment in 1999, that work was not done in exchange for the port covering their water bills.

The lone exception: The port does have a documented agreement to pay water utilities for a pilot’s lounge built by tenant Herb Brayton at his own expense. That arrangement was presented to commissioners at the time and approved because the port didn’t have the money to build the facility. The port continues to pay the bill today.

The committee found no similar agreements for any other hangar.

The committee recommends the port:

• Stop paying for utilities going to any tenant other than Brayton.
• Decide if the agreement with Brayton should continue and memorialize it in writing.
• Require tenants to establish their own city utility connections and permits. 

Committee’s goals

Concerns about unmetered and unpermitted water connections at the airport were first brought to light in May 2025. The issue became central to a citizen-led recall against the port’s three commissioners.

The port formed the committee Feb. 11 to investigate whether any agreements existed obligating the port to pay water bills for certain hangar tenants.

In the meantime, the city of Richland cut off an authorized water connection supplying about 12 hangars after property owners failed to obtain the required permits. As of the cutoff date, no individual connections had been brought into compliance, the city said.

Two major crimes detectives from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office have been assigned to investigate the alleged crimes.

The committee was tasked with a narrow scope that focused on finding out whether the port had agreements with Brayton, Jim Leedy, David Kleese and Bing Manawadu for paying their water utility bills in exchange for the tenants paying for water/sewer infrastructure.

The group was chaired by port counsel John O’Leary and included Airport Manager Quentin Wright, Contract Specialist Sheri Collins, Construction Project Manager Bryan Bell, Marketing and Communications Manager Summers Miya, and Mark Underwood, Brayton's property manager.

Additional findings

Brayton and the three other port tenants, Leedy, Kleese and Manawadu, agreed in 1999 to fund a $21,000 utility realignment at airport. However, no documentation shows that this work was done in exchange for the port paying water utility bills for those tenants.

Regarding the ownership of water and sewer lines, the committee said that hangar owners are responsible for sewer lines from where they connect to the city line to their respective building, and are required to submit plans and obtain permits before using city sewer services.

Individual owners also are responsible for connecting to water services “in accordance with city requirements and to have those services lines inspected and approved by the city,” according to the report.

“In reference to the properties in question, the only tenant the committee has a record of obtaining a building permit, that includes water and sewer service, is Herb Brayton.”

All water meters belong to the city, the report said, and the port can’t install its own meter on a city water line and charge the tenants itself.

The committee also noted that since other hangars have ground leases which specify that they are responsible for the utilities, no other written agreements are necessary.

The port has not yet discussed the report in a public meeting or taken any action in response to the findings and declined to comment on the report.